Slayers Overdrive
by Tanpopo Yamazaki
Summary: Wha? The Slayers are in Buffy's world and something in the space/time continium has been severely fooled around with. Will Deep Sea Dolphin destroy the world? Warning: Lina and Zel romance brews in later chapters. Please r&r.
1. Default Chapter

Warning: This is action/adventure but also a comedy and also a romance and also a tragedy! Hell, it's an epic. So no flames about not being happy that this part is sad and this part is lovey. If you don't like it, I apologize but it *is* my story. Oh yeah, and I don't own Slayers or Buffy. Okay, you may now commence reading if you still want to. ^^; *dreams about owning Zel*  
  
  
  
SLAYERS  
SLAYERS  
Lina Inverse - Buffy Summers  
Gourry Gabriev - Xander Harris  
Amelia Seiyluun - Willow Rosenberg  
Zelgadis Greywers - Angel  
Xellos - Rupert Giles  
Naga - Cordelia Chase  
  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
  
The post homeroom rush hit Sunnydale like brick. No sound was separate from another, everyone shouting to be heard, elbowing each other in the rat race to get to their lockers before the bell sounded, announcing second period.  
Buffy Summers had decided if she was going to go to high school that she may as well attend a few classes, so reluctantly, after chickening out of homeroom, she dragged herself to her locker. Almost forgetting the combination (the last time she went in there was to put her texts in there last September), she grabbed her socials book, a pen and some loose leaf and trudged towards room 111. She couldn't remember if her best friend Willow was in this class or not, but she hoped she wouldn't be alone. She had worked up the whole dreaded scenario in her mind the night before - the teacher calling on her, saying she was a new student and then some bitch in the back row pointing out that she constantly skipped school and her teacher completely loosing it. Did teachers have the right to do that? She wondered. It was her education to waste after all.  
As Buffy entered the classroom she realized, with sinking terror that she hardly new anyone in this class. All the seats in the back were taken, so she couldn't hide there. Willow was such a brain that if she were in that class she'd already be there, probably reading a dictionary or something.  
She took a seat in the front, where no one else was sitting and put on her headphones. School's almost over. I don't have to like it - no one else does… Buffy repeated to herself several times before letting Bif Naked lyrics flood her brain.  
A short woman with frizzy blond hair, a floral blouse and baggy khakis entered the room, sorting her way through mounds of disorganized papers and folders. "All right everyone, take out map four and sheet two."  
The class complied.  
"I hope everyone did their homework. Remember, homework is worth 15% of your final grade." The woman set down the cumbersome stacks of paper and turned to write yesterdays homework on the blackboard. After doing so, she scanned the classroom briefly and marked something down on her attendance. "Oh, and we have a new student today." She smiled.  
Oh my god … Buffy felt queasy. Nobody argue with her or I'll have that bastard of a principal to deal with.  
"And it doesn't look like she's here today…" the frazzled lady seemed confused.  
Just then the door swung open and a girl with long, brilliant red hair charged in, carrying an equally cumbersome assortment of school materials. She collapsed in the desk next to Buffy's and clumsily darted up the teacher.  
"Okay," The girl began to dig through her disorganized packsack, pulling out shuffled papers and notes before finding what she seemed to need. "This is my registration - I tried to give it to the office, but they said it would be easier if I got my teachers to sign it and gave it to them after school. Here's my note for being late - I'm just getting used to public transit here."  
This admission got a few of the snobbier students snickering - poor dope is already in grade eleven and didn't even own a civic! That screamed of a neglective parent. Well, Buffy walked to school, but she was sure she'd never get a car she didn't pay for by herself, and she didn't even have a job yet. Well, not a job that paid a salary.  
Oblivious to the negative first impression she was creating, the red head carried on. "Oh and here's a note from my mom - it says that I have the right to be excused at any time I need to be and here's my homework, because I knew what this class was studying two weeks ago, so I did about a weeks worth of homework cause I was so bored I nothing better to do."  
"Thank you, Lina." This only seemed to confuse the teacher more. "I'm Ms. Curtis. You can take your homework back to your seat - we'll be marking it in a few minutes. I'm just giving everyone who didn't bother to do their work some time to copy of their friends and achieve a decent score for their laziness."  
Immediately, six very diligent works shot there heads up from what they were doing in a futile attempt to fool Ms. Curtis, who was apparently much cleverer than she seemed.  
"You're the ones who will fail the tests, and those are worth far more than that homework." She smirked.  
Buffy was relieved that not only had she not been called on by the teacher but now she had a brainiac sitting next to her she might even do okay on some of these tests.  
"Are you Buffy Summers?" Lina turned to her with a fixed interest.  
"Maybe." Buffy replied carefully. This sounded pretty suspicious. "It depends on what you want with her."  
"Oh, it's nothing really. I heard some girls talking about a girl named Buffy Summers, and you seemed to fit the description."  
"Oh really? Such as?" Buffy was pretty skeptical.  
"Kind of small, blonde, pretty tough looking, loner."  
Well, Buffy thought, at least she's being honest with me instead of busting an organ trying to flatter me.  
"I think the girls said you never came to class though. Always hung out in the library. They said you were having an affair with the librarian."  
Buffy shot a glance Linaward.  
"Well I don't believe them." Lina smiled. "They seemed really snobby to me. And even if you were, it would be your own business. Besides, I was like that a lot back in my old city. I understand how people can take a private, plutonic relationship like that and make it into some whoa-is-me love affair. It's really stupid, and so is anyone who believes it. I'm sure that if you're spending an unusual amount of time there, you have a very decent, valid reason."  
Just the way she said that made Buffy nervous. Did this Lina know something she shouldn't?  
Lina carried on cheerfully "Well, I'm really glad I know someone's name now. I don't know if you've ever transferred schools in the middle of the year, but it can be pretty nerve-racking."  
"I have." Buffy decided that Lina seemed genuinely nice. She was becoming pretty paranoid to believe that everyone knew her secret. "Yeah, I transferred almost at the end of the school year last year. But I was lucky enough to meet some nice people and sort of fit in here."  
Lina nodded. "I hope it will be as easy for me. Meeting nice people is something I should really practice more, huh? Well, I met you just today, and you seem really nice. Do you think I could maybe eat lunch with you? Would your friends mind?"  
"No, I don't think they would mind. We have nothing to do this lunch, so sure, I'll meet you by the Snapple machine."  
Lina grinned again.  
"All right everyone," Ms. Curtis and gathered her wits and her homework key and stood expectantly at the head of the classroom. "Let's get started."  
  
Second period had ended and Buffy was going out of her mind. She knew that once there was a time, as impossible as it seemed now, that she could tolerate a six hour school day. Now she just wanted to go home. She replaced her books in her locker and headed towards the library. A few years ago she never would have thought that the library would be her favorite place in the school. Buffy headed down the hall, going against the grain of the school mobs heading towards their classes. Just then, the loudest, most annoying laugh she head ever had the displeasure of hearing erupted from the lockers to her left.  
"OOOOha ha ha ha! That's her? The loner heading for the library there?! She's pretty unshapely, isn't she?"  
Buffy usually wouldn't dignify something like that with so much as a look or a response, but she much preferred bullies to attack her head on instead of announcing their opinions to the entire school. Her eyes met with a tall brunette of unreal proportions. Her bust was unfathomably large, while her waist was unfathomably small. She donned a two-piece black leather outfit so her features where even more noticeable. Buffy wondered how that girl could compare anyone's body to her own. Well, at least Buffy had the reassurance that she wasn't carting around silicone in her breasts everyday. Silicone or not though, she pitied the girl, for the back problems a chest like that incurred were not to be believed.  
Another brunette, one that Buffy was, unfortunately, more familiar with decided to loudly agree with her. "Yeah, that's Buffy alright. Nice shirt, Buffy. Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears. There she is, Naga, heading towards the library with lust in her eyes. I hear that her and Mr. Giles are getting it on."  
Buffy was pretty sure that there was nothing remotely related to lust in her eyes, only maybe relief. Of course it helped now that she knew who was generating the rumors.  
"Look, Cordelia, this tortured-soul-my-daddy's-broke-and-no-one-loves-me-enough-to-buy-me-a-jag-so-I'm-going-to-be-a-flaming-bitch-from-hell routine isn't doing anything for me, so you and your little friend can just mosey on to third period, got it?"  
"Little??? LiTtLe???? LITTLE!?" the busty brunette seemed somewhat offended.  
"Buffy, Buffy, what my 'broke' father takes home with every paycheck, your mother would be privileged to make in a year, got it?" Cordelia crooned, smiling and patted Buffy's shoulder.  
Buffy supplied an equally genuine smile, curtly removed Cordelia's hand and replied, "Sadly, Cordy, that's not the issue. Screw with me again and I'll share with the student body who exactly it was you were getting it on with up until last month."  
Cordelia mustn't have been up to that challenge, thinking back to the horrible Xander incident and recoiling that she could have even touched him, let alone…. "Come on, Naga, we'll be late for third period."  
Buffy felt proud of herself as she continued down Sunnydale's hallway. She thought I was just going to roll over and accept that, but I just shoved it back down her throat. She entered the library, and there was no sign of Giles. Probably in the back room, she figured.  



	2. Chapter Two

Chapter 2  
  
Lina had seen Buffy sneak away from third period. Buffy wanted a normal life, yet she refused to attend school regularly. Lina sighed and headed towards the library. She'd have to give her teacher that note about being excused at anytime tomorrow. She strutted down the empty corridor and entered the dull looking, dim room at the end of it.  
"I must say now, we have had almost no activity for three weeks." The unsure and somewhat anti-social voice of Giles, laced with a quivering British accent.  
Lina remained silent as she entered and huddled between to bookshelves, listening intently.  
"So," Buffy replied " Do you know if there's anything actually wrong with this no show vamp squad or are we just worrying our pretty little heads for nothing?"  
"A-at this point I really - well no one can be sure what's going on. They may be injured or, more likely planning an ambush of sorts. I can only really suggest that you be on the look out - take more precautions. Look over your shoulder." He paused. "I don't mean to make you paranoid or anything, but, with Sunnydale on a Hell mouth-"  
"I know, I know." Buffy exaggerated a sigh. "With demons and vampires everywhere, a little paranoia is the best medicine. That and Mr. Pointy." Buffy proudly brandished her lucky stake.  
Lina paused. She had known there was something weird - really, really weird about Sunnydale. Aside from it being a one Starbucks town that could brag the nation's highest mortality rate and no one ever doing anything about it or even moving away. And now she knew. Demons and vampires and a Hell mouth. And Buffy was the Slayer and there could be only one, just like that Highlander movie, whose tune kept rolling through her head. And this was Giles' involvement in the whole thing. Giles was Buffy's Watcher and was sworn to help her in any way he could and guide her, protect her with knowledge. Lina had assumed a relationship as such from the beginning but she was glad that this confirmed it. It was good to have some basic facts before setting up for the actual accusation. But the more she thought about it, the more she planned to delay springing that on Buffy. First of all, there had to be more to it. This wasn't it, not all by any means. Lina could feel that there was more in Buffy's life. There was compassion, but she had no idea for whom that compassion was directed. Also, Lina realized, any accusation to Buffy should wait until after this whole vampire mystery was over. To be worrying about being exposed as a Slayer at the same time as fearing an ambush would push anyone over the edge.  
Buffy retired to the back room to practice kick boxing and Giles wasn't in the main library, so Lina decided it was best to make a break for it and head back to class. The odds of them mentioning something to make her hour long stay worthwhile were slim to none, so she headed for the double doors and trudged back to dreaded third period; math class.  
  
Lunch break took its sweet time arriving at Sunnydale, and Lina was waiting obediently at the Snapple machine when Buffy came from the library.  
"So, how was your first three hours at Sunnydale?" Buffy grinned.  
"Oh, pretty good. What class do you have for third period, Buffy?" Lina smiled inwardly. I'll innocently put her in the hot seat she thought to herself.  
It worked like a charm. "I have…I…have…I think…oh, where's my brain today? I totally forgot what class I just came from…"  
"Wow," Lina sweetly played along, "That's some tuning out. You'll have to teach me how to do it."  
"Yeah," Buffy seemed uninterested. "Oh look, there's Xander and Willow by the window," she pointed at two adolescents, waving frantically in hopes of attracting Buffy's attention.  
Lina and Buffy headed over to them and sat down.  
"Will, Xander, I'd like you to meet Lina. She's new to the school."  
"Hi," Willow smiled. She seemed very kind, the type of person who should be able to make friends quite easily.  
"Hey there," Xander seemed genuine, but unsure of himself. She could tell be liked Buffy and she could tell equally well that his feelings were not at all reciprocated by her.  
"What's for lunch?"  
"Same old." Willow cast an uneasy look at the cafeteria.  
"I don't know what they put in it, but I doubt it's fit for man or beast." Xander looked down, and seemed to examine Buffy's hands.  
Buffy didn't seem to notice. "Look, I'm really hungry, so I'm gonna go get something. You want?"  
"Nothing for me" Lina replied.  
"Me neither." Xander continued his gaze.  
"I'll have, if it's okay with you, some 1% - no, skim milk. And could you please grab a straw, cause I hate drinking out of those cartons." Willow beamed appreciatively.  
Buffy left to get her food as Lina was left alone with Willow and Xander. They wouldn't be on their guard so much, so this was the perfect opportunity to extract some more information.  
"So, how long have you guys known Buffy for?"  
Willow frowned. "I don't know, maybe a year almost."  
"She's seems very independent." Lina went on. "What kind of stuff is she into?"  
Xander shrugged. "There's a club called the Bronze that we like to hang out at. You should probably ask her yourself."  
"Oh I tried. But Buffy - don't tell her I told you this - seems a bit paranoid. Very suspicious, very secretive, as though she's really got something to hide, you know? Now I didn't mean to be invading her privacy asking you guys instead of her. I knew you were true friends and wouldn't tell me something that she wouldn't want me to know. But all the same, you guys wouldn't get as defensive as her. She way she acts, you'd think she's on a secret mission or something." She giggled at her own unfunny joke.  
Xander was silent for a moment and then forced himself to chuckle before resuming a straight face whereas Willow didn't manage that much.  
"I never would have used that analogy…" Willow tried to avoid eye contact with Lina.  
Lina nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose then, you could say that she's so standoffish it's like she has a hidden agenda. Like she's some sort of super hero and this whole Buffy Summers thing is just some elaborate secret identity. Clark Kent style, you know?" Lina carefully gauged their reaction to that. It was predictable, because as people went, Willow and Xander were pretty damn predictable. Xander just looked more and more uneasy as the seconds ticked by, while Willow avoided eye contact, directing her very intense stare towards the coke machine.  
"I've never noticed." Xander filled the silence.  
"Hmm. Well, you two are her friends, and maybe she only gets like that around people she doesn't know. I'm not sure."  
Willow flashed a desperate look towards Lina. "So, how do you like Sunnydale?"  
"The school, or the town?"  
"Both."  
"Well, the town seems nice and all. But I read some statistics before coming here. A little city like Sunnydale probably wouldn't get much attention from maps or books on statistics or almanacs or anything like that. Well, before I came here, I didn't know the size of the city so I thought I would be able to find some information on it. The only thing I found was that the death rate in Sunnydale is three times that of Los Angeles and New York put together! Can you believe that? Well yeah, you probably can, since you've lived here all your life."  
Xander looked around, trying to spot Buffy in the lineup while absently excusing his hometown. "Now, you can't believe everything you read. Our little suburban Sunnydale can't be that violent."  
"Oh really. Willow, what's this school's population?"  
"Five hundred and fifty-three…or was it fifty-four?"  
"Last year the population, according to the school records I came across in the office this morning, was six hundred and ninety. The year before that, almost eight hundred. Either Sunnydale is the most unpopular school I've ever heard of or the rapid decrease in population somehow is linked to the sky-rocketing mortality rate."  
"Anything else?" Willow didn't mean to sound as rude as she did, but she was ready to bolt. This kid knew way too much.  
"Yeah. If it isn't an inconvenience, after lunch, could you show me to the library? There's something I wanna check on. I don't know what the Sunnydale library is like, but at my old school the library was very old and filled with a tremendous amount of beautiful and very informational books."  
"Well, if you want." Willow tried hard not to arouse any more suspicions. "But the library here isn't much to speak of."  
"Sure it is." Buffy joined them, allowing Murphy's Law to take its effect. Her timing was impeccably bad.  
"Well, nothing compared to what you're used to, Lina." Willow directed some silent conversation towards Buffy. "Just a few dozen stuffy old books from the turn of the centaury. So out of date is not even funny."  
"Oh, but I love antiques!"  
  
Lunch passed slowly, but much faster than third period had, and the group made polite small talk until they only had a few minutes before the bell rang. Lina was exhausted. She kept having to pin them into a corner, asking suspicious questions, acting mysterious and really smart. She wasn't stupid at all, or she wouldn't be pulling this off the way she was, but researching, checking stats and ooing and awing over antiques! She didn't even want to know where she came up with that. Lina wasn't even reading any vibes off of them anymore.  
"Well, I know we only have a few minutes, but do you think we could still go to the library?" Lina looked up at Buffy. Buffy looked at Willow and Willow looked at Xander and Xander looked at a tall brunette across the room who was wearing as little as she could get away with.  
"I guess so." Buffy hesitated, then got up, grabbed her purse and lead the procession down the hallway to the dull looking corner of the school where sat the library. She held the door open as Willow, Xander and Lina entered. Lina forced a surprised and very much impressed look on her face and said, "Willow, you said this library had nothing in it! Shame on you for taking this archive for granted. Wow, it's really amazing."  
"Buffy?" Giles entered the main library. "Oh, you brought someone." He didn't sound angry, just unsure of what to do.  
"G- Mr.Giles, this is Lina. She's new to Sunnydale."  
Giles awkwardly shook her hand and adjusted his fragile looking glasses. "That's right. I didn't think I'd seen you here before."  
"Probably because no one ever comes in here." Xander supplied and everyone shot a dirty look in his direction.  
"Oh, I don't believe that! With all these books, and still no one comes in." Lina examined the room, wide-eyed. All of a sudden an idea, maybe a name hit her hard. "Calendar."  
"Hmmm?" Buffy looked at her.  
"Jenny Calendar." Lina wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean but she had to say it. Whenever a word or name entered her mind the way that one did, she would think about it and think about it, and eventually say it because after a while it gave her a headache to keep it inside.  
Giles shot around, anguish in this face. His eyes seemed sunken for some reason and he was pale. "What did you say?"  
Lina repeated it carefully.  
"Oh god. Why did you say that?" He was careful too. He couldn't help show emotion when hearing about the whomever it was with the name Jenny Calendar. But he didn't unnecessarily give her an excuse, a clue, or an easy way out.  
"Jenny Calendar," Lina looked around, and Xander, Willow, Buffy and most importantly, Giles, and they were staring her down. He frowned at her and she bit her lip. Whatever she had said, she wanted to take it back now. She had seriously ruffled his feathers, and now she wasn't sure whether to tell him that it just came to her, or spin off some elaborate fish story about how she had always known a Jenny Calendar, a dear, but quite decrepit old nanny from her toddler years. "Jenny Calendar was a friend of my mother's back from when I was just little. She came to our house every Sunday for tea and she used to give these chewable mints. The smell in here reminds me of her. Why? Is there something wrong?"  
"No, of course not." She had a feeling he didn't believe her and she sure as hell didn't believe him. Besides, it certainly didn't smell a bit minty in this room. More must than mint.  
The school bell broke the silence spell and Buffy, Willow and Xander didn't seem the least bit inclined to leave. Well, Lina figured she had better get going, or at least look like she was going to.   
"Thanks for showing me the library, guys. Mr. Giles. I'll see you all later!" She turned and headed out of the library.  
Lina peeked in through the window in the door. They certainly didn't show any sign of movement, so they were probably going to skip fourth period. Naughty! It wasn't a wise move to skip classes the first day at a new school, but she had more important things to do. In the back of her mind she wondered if they would be talking and if so, about her. She had certainly given Willow and Xander a reason to. She leaned again the door, opened the library return drop slot just a crack and caught an interesting conversation.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter Three

Chapter 3  
  
Buffy shifted her weight. Giles looked really upset. Now that she really examined them, Xander and Willow didn't look so hot themselves.  
"So, what's up?"  
"I-I'm not sure I believe her about what-what she said…" Giles' voice was shaky. Jenny had meant so much to him.  
"I don't mean to intrude or butt in or anything at all, but Lina…well, she seemed way suspicious, and she was asking about you and things like that." Willow always sounded so unsure of herself.  
"What was she asking about?" Buffy frowned with interest.  
"Well, she wanted to know where you hung out and what you did for fun and things. She was going on about Sunnydale's mortality rate, and she said it was like you seemed to have a secret agenda or something along that line." Willow paused, unsure if she was just being way cautious or if there was something to her worry. "And just now she mentioned Jenny Calendar. It seems really strange, you know, that she's so smart. I mean, she researches Sunnydale, is supposedly obsessed with books, seems super-naturally observant, and is, by her own admission, antique crazy! No teenager hoping to make a decent impression at a new school admits to something like that. And besides, I don't believe her anyway."  
"Yeah. She said that she had done all the weeks homework for our class cuz she was bored before she moved here." Buffy thought aloud. No one was that smart, were they? That would mean that Lina was smarter than Willow and that couldn't be true.  
"Well, maybe she has a secret agenda. After all, everyone in Sunnydale has one. She was kind of cute, so that means she's probably a giant, man-eating preying mantis, or a control-freak robot, or she belongs to some exclusive 'Let's-sacrifice-high-school-students-to-blood-thirsty-worm-creatures'-cult." Xander suggested. As usual, no one cared.  
"You may have a point." Buffy was talking to Xander, but she didn't look at him. "What if she does have a secret agenda? Only what if she's been sent to find out our weak spots or something? She could be vampire."  
"Not likely." Giles looked up at her.  
"Cuz," Willow pointed out, "you've been wearing your crucifix all day and she hasn't flinched a bit."  
"I would also point out that she would have to be invited into this school." Giles raised his eyebrows.  
"But she registered. That's as good as an invitation, isn't it?"  
"Perhaps." Giles was deep in thought.  
"We did invite her into the library though." Willow sighed. "We shouldn't have done that."  
"We didn't know." Buffy too, was thinking hard. "I wonder exactly how close she would have to be to flinch from my cross necklace?"  
"Do you think we should stake her just to be on the safe side?" Xander's suggestion was met with some cynical and irritated glances.  
"Well, she could be a vampire and she could be a demon and she could be a really weird human being. We're no closer to figuring all this out."  
Willow sighed again. "Well Buffy, Xander and I were going to hang at the Bronze tonight. Wanna join us?"  
Buffy glanced at her watch. "What time?"  
"Eight, I guess."  
"I'll meet you there at nine then. I've got an appointment."  
  
Buffy did have an appointment too. She had an appointment with her demonic boyfriend. Some days she thought she was going to cry because she loved him so much. Other days she hated him so much she wanted to kiss him and other days she just hated him. How could you love someone that killed your friend? Your friend's lover? Well, he wasn't in his right mind. But that explanation didn't make them any less dead. But their love was unconditional. Another vampire had even told her that. She hadn't needed anyone to tell her though.  
Buffy had excused herself from socials homework that evening and was heading for the abandoned building Angel had turned into a sort of habitat. He had made it livable, with a bed, some wood furniture that was kind of falling apart and as many clothes draped over the negative space as possible. There were lots of candles there too, and chains from whatever had gone on in the building previous to its abandonment. It really used to bother her that she slept in a warm, cozy, fuzzy, cutesy bedroom and he slept in some unwanted slum. She had come to realize it came with the job description. Being a vampire meant sucking blood, being afraid of garlic and stakes, only coming in when you were invited and finding sunlight intolerable. That would have been what she would have missed most, had she ever become a vampire. There had to be a book somewhere, written for girls in similar situations, listing qualities in boyfriends that you should steer clear of. 1) Guys who can't stand sunlight. 2) Guys who turn into raging hell spawns when you give them a happy. 3) Guys who are members of the living-undead and come from hell and have a history of sucking blood from other girl's necks.  
  
Nevertheless, Buffy entered the dank, deserted structure with care and followed the dim light of several flicking candles to find Angel, alone as always, head in his hands.  
"What's the matter?" Buffy asked.  
"I knew you'd be coming. I didn't eat. I haven't for a while."  
Although she was flattered and relieved that he decided not to kill people in front of her she wondered if this too was wrong. Buffy was torn between not wanting people to die and understanding that everyone needed to eat to live. But then again, vampires weren't supposed to live. She realized though, that someone could just easily take some meatloaf away from her and say that she couldn't eat what was once a living creature. Angel couldn't eat during the day because of the sunlight and now was being prevented from eating when he was very hungry. It was frightening to think that she was all alone in room with a semi-starving vampire. He had consented to eat as little as he could, and didn't hunt purely for pleasure's sake anymore. It made her happy that he would give up things like that because she wanted him to.  
"Thank you." She smiled. "Mind if I sit down?"  
He looked up at her and motioned with his head that there were plenty of places to sit and she welcome to take her pick. She chose a crate draped with some dirty linen.  
"How are you?" he struggled to pick and choose safe conversational topics.  
"I'm okay, I guess." Buffy pursed her lips. "School is okay. I actually went to class today. Umm…I don't know how to ask this, but do you know where all the vamps are hiding out?"  
"There's been no activity, huh? I haven't been out in a while. I don't know why they wouldn't be around. Do you think it could be an ambush?"  
"I'm not sure yet." Buffy admitted. "I mean, there's a girl I met today, and she says she's new. Well, she's under suspicions for numerous reasons. I don't know. It can be really stressful. Everyone thinks their world should be my priority. Principal Flutie thinks my life should be school, my mom thinks I should be building my future and at the same time Giles is telling me Slaying is my future. I've got you and Willow and Xander, and then Sunnydale's citizens resting on my shoulders-." She paused to smile at him, patiently listening to her gripes. "Same old, same old. How're you doing?"  
He smiled back at her, amused by her fickleness. One second she felt so burdened by Giles to save Sunnydale and the next she was chatting lightly about going to class and eating lunch with her friends. He longed his life to be that simple once more. Or rather he longed that his life should be so complicated, so multi-faceted where life wasn't about darkness, and blood and loneliness so much as it revolved around school and friends and relationships. He longed to worry about the things Buffy did. How he looked, and what people thought of him, and whether to cook or order out, who to date, where to take them, curfews and homework, chastisement from frustrated teachers and parents. In a way, Buffy's life so simplistic at the same time as there were thousands of different roads, symbolizing all the opportunities she took for granted, how she took her own life so seriously because she didn't have an eternity the way he did.  
"I'm all right." He replied finally. How could she be so oblivious as to what her life was, the precious centaury in which she could never acquire the kind of wisdom he had earned through years upon years of dull and misunderstood pain? Her existence was so limited and fragile, so much so that she could never realize. It was strange to not be able to tell her that, because she wouldn't understand. Not until she had spent two centauries in hell. But he wanted to tell her how fragile her being was, how much she took her freedom and love for granted. He wanted to share all he had come to understand with her, but that was like trying to teach a four-year old quantum mechanics. She had no way of knowing what it was like to be undead, and he did not wish that on anyone Well, only a select few.  
"Anything else going on?" Buffy beamed again. It was true. Ignorance was bliss.  
Silence.  
"In that case, I promised Willow and Xander that I'd meant them at the Bronze. Wanna come?"  
"No thanks. I have to eat soon anyway."  
"Oh." Buffy was not surprised but she had really wanted him to come. "Is it okay if I come tomorrow? We can talk some more then, maybe figure out what up with this vamp thing."  
"I'll see what I can dig up."  
"Thank you." Buffy hugged him loosely, not wanting him to misinterpret anything. She had learned her lesson about passion and vampires.  
  
Buffy left Angel and headed for her favorite club, the Bronze. She entered to hear one of her favorite house bands playing and tried to search out Willow and Xander. The Bronze was rectangular in shape, with a balcony that served somewhat as a second floor. Drinks were served to the left of the entrance, and the house band was playing at the far side on the first floor. She saw that Willow and Xander had a round table with booth-like chairs in one of the darkest corners. Buffy also noticed that Lina was there, sitting right next to them, no doubt chatting away merrily about how super-intelligent she was. Buffy sighed, because she was here now and as much as she really didn't want to talk to Lina right then, if Willow and Xander saw her leaving, they'd have cause for a serious grudge. She approached their table reluctantly, greeted them and sat down next to Lina, as it was the only available seat.  
"It's so funny to run into you here." Buffy commented, making only a slight attempt to hide her sarcasm.  
"Fluke, isn't it? I had just heard about this nightclub this afternoon, so I asked where it was so I could have a look-see. I mean, how else am I supposed to meet people, right? But it's pretty cool that I've run into someone I know already."  
"Yeah." Buffy looked around wistfully. Why couldn't Angel come through that entrance? She had firmly decided that he would and so shut her eyes, keeping them closed for a few seconds and then opening them in a flash, hoping that her timing would be perfect and he would suddenly enter when she opened them. She tried that a couple of times before deciding it was a lost cause.  
"Any one up for a drink?" Xander offered, in an attempt to shift the conversation to a topic that had something to do with him.  
There was a chorus of "no thank you "s and he looked frustrated, as he always did.  
"That's okay. I wasn't going to get anyone anything anyway. I was just curious as to who was up for one."  
  
The night carried on slowly, with disinterested conversation, laced with indifferent dancing and lackadaisical alcohol consumption on the part of Xander, but no so much as to send him into a blundering and/or vomiting stupor.  
Buffy was bored. Rather, she was quite beyond the realm of being bored to tears an hour ago and had now entered a state of total and complete apathy, so if someone had come up behind and bit her neck and drained all the blood out of her, she would just sit there and try to mentally organize her sock drawer.  
She felt a hand come down on her neck and someone lean over her, their breathing falling on her skin. Maybe she wasn't that bored.  
"I'm going to bail for the night, okay?" Lina whispered to her.  
Buffy couldn't help but wonder why that warranted Lina to touch her, much less whisper in her ear.  
As if Lina had read that thought, she added, "The music was so loud that when I said it twice before, you didn't hear me."  
Oh, Buffy thought.  
  



	4. Chapter Four

Chapter 4  
Lina grabbed her jacket and purse and awkwardly bumped through the sea of people to the exit. She had decided that Buffy couldn't give one choice word or another whether she left early or not. It was obvious that Xander and Willow were scared of Lina but that Buffy just couldn't care less. Lina grumbled under her breath. It was amazingly difficult trying to be someone she wasn't - someone sweet with perfect manners and incredible brains. Sometimes she had wondered what it would be like to start at a completely different school, where no one knew you and just be a very different person. Now she knew. And it took all the restraint she had mustered up that day not to reveal her true colors, turn around and swat some of those annoying people because of the annoying things they said.  
She rounded the street corner and headed down Blankman road. Lina had decided that she liked Buffy, at least for the most part. She wasn't annoying or prying and she didn't say stupid things all the time. She was fairly indifferent most of the time, and that was a characteristic that Lina had no trouble getting along with. Willow didn't bother her much either, because she was genuine and sweet and polite, a little overdone that way, but she was sure Willow couldn't do much about that. She was made of sugar and spice and everything nice though, that much was certain. Xander was a completely different story, as he was constantly getting on her nerves. Always had to insert something stupid into every conversation. He either stated the obvious or added something very unobvious or said something rude or even mean about her, but she had done her best to just brush it off and not swat him, even if he totally deserved it. Good job, Lina! she told herself.  
Lina stood on the corner of Mead and Lengthon. Now what? It was all very well and good to be able to find your way to a club in daylight in an unfamiliar city but it was a different task altogether to find your way through Sunnydale in the dark. She pulled her red denim jacket more tightly around her and mild alarm rolled through her stomach, informing her of something she already knew although she wished she didn't. She was lost. She briefly thought about going back to the club and asking Buffy but not only would that blow her cover but Buffy didn't know where she lived and no one there had a car anyway.  
She sighed, and looked down an alley across the street. Should she head down there? The other end of the alley was brightly light, and there seemed to be traffic over there, not like these streets. On the other hand, she was sure she hadn't come that way when she was trying to find the Bronze in the first place. She glanced down towards the way she thought she had come. Those streets seemed dead or deserted.  
Lina decided not to reason with herself about it and crossed the street towards the alley. She wasn't sure whether she felt really stupid for doing something that always gets the heroine of horror movies in trouble or if she just felt lucky.  
Lina found her way into the darkness but then stopped for a second. Had she heard something? No, that was her imagination. On the other hand, however, she wasn't the type of girl to dread walking alone at 1:00 in the morning, even in an unknown town. Her adrenaline started to rush and so did she. She turned around to see if anyone was following her and ran head-on into a wall.  
Lina looked up and her stomach tightened. It was not a wall she had run into but a tall, cloaked man. Most of his face was covered, and his hair fell over one eye. The other eye though, was so deep she felt as though she might drown in it. It was a mysterious blue, or maybe beyond blue.  
The man broke the spell, as he brushed by her and headed towards the other side of the alley. A word slipped into her mind and onto her tongue.  
"Akahoshi." She said, not knowing the meaning of the word.  
"Aka-." The man turned to look at her. "What's your name? Who sent you?"  
Lina wasn't sure she should tell him anything, but he had several advantages over her right now, aside from height and strength. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut?  
"Lina. That's my name." She said slowly and carefully. "No one sent me. I don't even know what Akahoshi means."  
His eyes narrowed into slits and charged at her, grabbing her neck and pressing her back hard against the brick wall behind her.  
"Don't play stupid with me. Who sent you?"  
Lina couldn't say anything. Her stomach knotted and all her muscles tightened but she knew that fighting back was pretty hopeless with this guy.  
"I could kill you now. Tell me!"  
Lina frowned, and then managed a thin half smile. "Are you a vampire?" She was astonished to realize that that concept didn't frighten her.  
His eyes softened and with them his grip loosed and he turned away. "Akahoshi wasn't what people said he was." He said quietly. "He was a monster and he killed or deformed those who got in the way of his plans. I got in way." That last bit was barely audible. "I knew they had formed a new order or worshippers, but so young? So young?" He seemed lost in a mixture of anger and depression. He finally turned to her. "I killed him. Long ago. Worshipping him will bring you nothing but hate. You're too young…"  
"What's your name?" Lina felt that an important question, though she didn't know why. She didn't understand about Akahoshi but the vampire wasn't killing her yet so she thought she'd let it go.  
He looked at her again. His eye had the same impossibly deep blue quality. They seemed so eternal. "Zelgadis."  
"Zelgadis" she repeated. It suited him, it suited his eyes. "Why don't you kill me?" It was a decidedly stupid question, she understood, but she really wanted know why he hadn't.  
He looked down at her, almost in amusement. "Do you want to die?"  
"No."  
He said nothing, as though having a victims consent was the only way he killed.  
"Others would," he sighed, "And not just vampires. Why are you walking alone at this time of night?"  
So not only was this vampire not going to kill her, but he was going to lecture her in safety? The theme to the Twighlight Zone rolled through her head and she did what she could to keep from humming it.  
"It's dangerous." He said, uselessly. Lina had figured that much out. He sighed in resignation. "Where do you live?"  
Aside from the fact that he didn't kill her and seemed to be interested in her safety, he seemed very trustworthy. Something about him made her trust him implicitly. If all else failed, he couldn't come in unless he was invited.  
"I live on Taleeth Place."  
"Well, you're going the wrong way." Zelgadis pointed out and turned and she followed him.  
"I'm new here. I just moved here yesterday and I managed to find my way to the Bronze in daylight but I couldn't find my way back in the dark."  
He acknowledged that with a nod but no more. It made sense that he had gotten to know where everything was in the dark, because night was all he ever got to see. Zelgadis probably knew every short cut ever created through Sunnydale and several more.   
He turned and she followed, across Mead and Lengthon, to a quieter alley, and a much narrower one. They walked single file but Lina had to almost jog to keep with his stride. It was dark, much darker than the other alley with no light seeping through or at the other end and she was afraid she would loose sight of him and be lost again.  
"Zel?" Lina was going to ask that he slow up, but he stopped anyway and she ran into him again.  
"Shhh!" he said and he stood absolutely still for a few moments, just listening.  
"I don't hear anything." Lina whispered but he ignored her.  
Abruptly, Zelgadis grabbed Lina's hand and ran down the alley, and she struggled to keep up. At the end of the alley she found a door decorated crudely with orange spray paint. Zel swung it open and dragged Lina through. The room was utterly dark and she couldn't see anything even if her eyes had been given time to adjust. Zel pulled her to the far side of the room, and she felt cloth brush her face, as though there were curtain dangling from the ceiling. That startled her and she did her best not to shout out.  
Lina's arm was pulled abruptly and she staggered into Zel again. He rapped his cloak around both him and her.  
"There used to be a fire escape at the back where we are now. I thought we could get out this way." Zelgadis whispered. "Stay still, don't talk, don't even whisper. If you hear voices in this room, pretend to be dead."  
Lina shook. If it scared a vampire, it scared her. She realized that he was trying to look like one of the cloths that were hanging from the ceiling by wrapping his cape around them both and her red jacket wasn't helping.  
She tensed as she heard a door opening. Zelgadis tensed too. She faintly saw, in the darkness, as her eyes focused somewhat that Zel ran the side of his index finger across his teeth. He pressed the finger to the side of her neck and then to his own lips.  
Lina panicked as she heard several drunken voices. The dim light they had brought with them when they opened the door revealed to her that Zel's lips where covered in blood, and realized her neck was too. Realizing his plan she allowed herself to go limp and pretend to be dead.  
The three men who belonged to the drunken voices rounded the corner and pushed back the cloths. Zel lowered his cloak and steadied Lina so she didn't fall over. He put his face to close to her neck that she expected to feel each uneven breath. But the she remembered that he wasn't alive.  
"Well, what have we got here?" a vampire with a low-class British accent asked his friends.  
Another vampire grinned at Zel. "Was she good?"  
"How's about we give it a bite?" The Brit asked again.  
Lina's pulse quickened. Zel picked her up in his arms and she remembered to play it limp.  
"It wouldn't do you any good. She's already dead." Zel glared at them.  
"Couldn't we be the judge of that?" Brit met Zel's glare, and it intensified.  
"I don't ask you to share your food."  
Zel was met with the response, "You're missing out."  
"She's dead, and I'm leaving." Zel said firmly.  
"What are you going to do with her now?" A mischievous voice piped up.  
Zel hesitated a moment before replying, "What do you think I'm going to do?"  
That response was met with a chorus of knowing "Oh" s and it made Zel cringe to think they were that twisted.  
As he left the dark room, Brit wittingly retorted, "Aren't you supposed to do that before you kill her?" Which was only met with more laughter.  
Zel jogged, Lina in his arms, down to the end of the ally the way they came. Only then did she act alive again as he set her down and stammered a weak, half-apology for what she had heard.  
Zel wiped his lips off on the back of his hand and Lina wiped her neck off.  
"Thanks for doing that." She smiled up at him, with new admiration. She had been right to trust him.  
Zel blushed a little and responded, "Well, I guess now we'll just have to go the long way."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter Five

Chapter 5  
  
It was Saturday and Giles wasn't sure why he had ended up at Sunnydale High. It was the weekend and he was supposed to be enjoying himself. But he had nothing to do at home and the lack of demonic activity had him concerned. Not that there was much he could do about it in a stuffy old library, he realized. Maybe it was a ceremony or something, so he could consult a book listing some important ceremonies and festivals in the vampire calendar.  
Abruptly there was a knock at the door and Giles turned with a start to see a man with shoulder-length purple hair and closed eyes standing behind it. Giles rushed to get a stake and a crucifix from his supplies and then turned towards the library door, opening it very carefully.  
"Yes, yes, hello to you to." The purple man entered, grinning madly. "Are you Mr. Giles?"  
"Yes."  
"I have your Slayer. I'll kill her if you don't meet with my demands."  
Giles looked stricken. How could this be? His vision blurred and he felt sick to his stomach.  
The purple man waved his index finger to and fro. "My, my, Rupert-kun, can't you take a joke?"  
"A joke? Rupert?"  
"Yes a joke. And your name is Rupert, is it not?"  
"I suppose."  
"Oh, you suppose your name is Rupert? Truth be told, you strike me as more of a Ted. Or a Bartholomew. Yes, definitely a Bartholomew."  
"Might I ask who you are?" Giles inquired, his voice riddled with indignation.  
"Yes, you certainly might."  
After a long silence, Giles decided to rephrase this. "Who are you?"  
"Oh!" The purple man looked up at Giles as though recognizing the question for the first time. "My name is Xellos Matallium." And he bowed politely.  
"And why are you here, Mr. Matallium?"  
"Xellos, if you please. No need to be formal."  
"I see. You certainly aren't." Giles had had enough mind games. Would the man just spit it out?  
"What did you say, Rupert-kun?"  
"Nothing to bother about. Now, why are you here?"  
"Because I was sent here, of course! Xellos seemed very preoccupied with whatever was in his pockets.  
"And why were you sent here?" Giles was rapidly loosing patience. "Who sent you here?"  
Xellos seemed to discover what he had been poking around for in his pockets for and took out a brown leather wallet. He shuffled through numerous credit cards and debit cards and a few pictures of his Saint Bernard, Burney, before locating an ID. He showed Giles the photo of himself, as well as the Watchers Guild emblem.  
"You're a Watcher?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, why are you here then? Is something the matter? I shouldn't think so. I have everything under control."  
"That statement in is incorrect." Xellos had firmly decided that this man was very ignorant, but was at least going to prove amusing. "You are under the misconception that all is well, when in fact, all is not."  
"Well have out with it, man! What's the matter? I'm Buffy's Watcher and it's my duty to inform her so to aid her in any way I can."  
"I'm aware of who you are and what you do. You seem to also be under the misconception that you are the only member of the Watchers Guild that serves any purpose, and the rest of us are just there to sit pretty." Xellos cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "I am also a Watcher. And I have a Slayer."  
"How can that be?" Giles scoffed. "There can be only one!"  
"Do you think there would be more than one Watcher if there wasn't more than one Slayer?"  
Giles had never thought of it that way. He had thought the other members of the Watchers Guild were his elders, there to train him and nothing more. But that made no sense, because many members were younger than he was.  
"Until your Slayer dies, there can be no other vampire Slayers." Xellos went on. "She is the only one capable of slaying vampires the way she does. But there are hundreds of other Slayers, and all of them have a purpose. My Slayer does not know of her purpose yet. She has a great deal of magical potential though, not just summoning or witch craft."  
"You say your Slayers has not be awakened yet. Does she attend this school, or did she travel with you?"  
"I believe she resides in Sunnydale, but that is all. I know noting anything else about her, because the Watchers Guild has been very secretly observing her for many years. She has already demonstrated part of her skill to her advantage, although she doesn't know it yet."  
Giles furled his brow, trying to sort out this limited and fractional information. "So you do not know who the Slayer is. And she does not know who you are. So how do you plan on getting anything accomplished? How will you recognize her? How will she recognize you? How can be begin her training when you don't even know her name?"  
Xellos turned to face Giles and looked him directly in the eye. "Sore wa himitsu desu."  
"What?"  
"That is a secret."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter Six

Chapter 6  
  
Buffy dragged herself through the library doors Saturday afternoon.  
"Now, hey, look, I know that vampires don't believe in weekends, but I didn't get much sleep last night, and I was sort of hoping to catch some today. So just tell me what needs slaying and I'll slay it and then go home and get some shut eye, k?"  
Giles shuffled towards the tables in front of her carrying a mountain of dull, archaically written reference books. "Actually, vampires and demons have nothing to do with the immediate problem."  
Buffy raised her eyebrows impatiently. "Then what the hell did you - whoa…uh…purple?"  
Xellos, who had made himself noticed, clambered down the narrow staircase as though he had just been called to receive an Oscar. He tripped over the last stair, stumbled towards the floor, but then managed to frantically right himself, standing directly in front of Buffy.  
"Greetings, Slayer. Your Watcher has been boasting about you all morning."  
This made Buffy feel even more uncomfortable. "Who are you?"  
"I am Xellos, surnamed Matallium."  
"And why are you here?" Buffy looked at him critically. It was possible that he was quite intoxicated.  
"Hah, good luck!" Giles scoffed from his book table.  
"What?" Buffy asked.  
"Getting anything out of him other than a name. It took me quite some time, I don't know if he's telling the truth though, because what he's after is quite impossible."  
"Now, now, Rupert-kun, didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to talk about other people when they are standing in the room?"  
"Is he drunk?" Buffy glanced uneasily at the man again.  
"I shouldn't think so. If he is, he takes alcohol fairly well, because he's been chatting aimlessly at me for a few hours now, but at least it's sober chat."  
Buffy nodded.  
"If everyone in this room would be so pleasant as to stop trying to label my capacity to reason, and just listen to me now." Xellos looked at Buffy and Giles, his face looking more serious than it had all morning. "Now, is this all there is?"  
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.  
"I mean what I said. Is there anyone else that should attend this meeting?"  
"Meeting?" Giles frowned and stepped away from his books and towards Buffy.  
"Now, for the love of L-sama, stop repeating everything I say and just try to go with the flow. I am here, in the place where all Watcher things in Sunnydale get done, with the Watcher and the Slayer. Is there anyone else that ought to partake in this little get-together?"  
"Well, Willow and Xander help us out a lot I guess. Willow always helps Giles and right now she's studying witchcraft. Xander is sorta there, but he does help."  
"Less rather than more." Giles muttered.  
"Anybody else? I'm sure that…" Xellos seemed to be thinking hard.  
"Well, I guess Cordelia knows that I'm the Slayer. And I guess she has had situations where she has really helped out."  
"Tres Bon!" Xellos clapped his hands three times with non-apparent delight. "Now, Rupert-kun, run along and find a way to contact these associates. Everyone must be here before the meeting shall begin."  
"Why, might I ask?"  
"Because then I needn't repeat it four times, needn't I? Besides, everyone brings something to the table, I'm sure. Don't bother asking me such trivial questions. I am a guest, and a guest has his way. When trouble hits, you will want all the help you could possibly ask for."  
  
  
"Perhaps you are wondering why I called you here today?"  
The group was gathered around one of the study tables in the library, all looking quite disgruntled at having to spend their Saturday at school.  
"Um, like excuse me, but some people in this room do have a life and they aren't going to waste it in a library surrounded by a bunch of freaks." Cordelia showed no signs of leaving the room of freaks, but decided to bring it to everyone's attention that she would rather not slay hell spawn on a day off.  
"Yes, well, that's very nice. Thank you for expressing your feelings, but unfortunately this is not a support group."  
"Then start at the beginning, and when you come to the end, stop. Tell us who you are, why you're here and why you bothered to bring them all here." Giles was fed up, and he felt a nasty headache coming on. He was not a violent person at heart, but what he wouldn't give for sawed-off shotgun right now. He'd give it to Xellos right between the eyes…  
"Do not rush me, Rupert-kun."  
"Kun?" Xander asked.  
"Japanese suffix denoting to a male peer or inferior." Giles had had enough explaining and wanted that Xellos character to do his share.  
"Yes, well, let us begin then." Xellos cracked his knuckles and stood up. "My name is Xellos Matallium, and I am also a Watcher. Some of you will have the misguided suggestion in your mind that there is one Watcher because there is one Slayer. There is only one vampire Slayer, but there are many other kinds, all requiring Watchers. My particular Slayer has not been awakened yet, but apparently resides here in Sunnydale. In case you're wondering, none of you are she."  
"Phew!" Xander let out a sigh of relief in an attempt to be amusing. It failed.  
"At any rate, she will be awakened soon. When she is awakened, she will need extensive training, as her field of expertise extends a tad beyond…brute strength and quick reflexes. She is being trained for a more immediate purpose than Buffy was. As much as I shall tell you now is that an ancient…well, for lack of a better word, 'evil' has been allowed to thrive over the millenniums. My Slayer's purpose has foreordained, and that is to destroy this evil at all costs. Because you all are here, on this Hell Mouth, and because you have the ability to slay, we will call upon you to help us. It may be a case of you all becoming more involved than I would like to imagine, if my Slayer needs more time to learn what is necessary. She is capable with her field, of this I am certain, but certain…things could get in the way and delay our meeting at all."  
"Do you know who she is? If she goes to this school, we might know her." Willow suggested.  
"I am uncertain as to which school she attends. It is possible that you know her, but it is of little consequence. When the time comes, she will come to me, because she will know."  
"Know what?" Willow looked around the table at her fellow slayers.  
"Everything."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter 7  
  
Lina waited impatiently for the bus on the corner of Third and Gerard. It was due ten minutes ago but it was possible that she had just missed it. Buses back in her old city were never early, but the Sunnydale buses couldn't have had many passengers to pick up.  
Just then, the number 12 came pummeling down the hill towards her stop. It swerved this way and that, and she dove back for fear it would drive up on to the curb and hit her. It didn't, slowing to a gentle stop, the brakes hissed and the doors swung open in front of her.  
Lina adjusted her shoulder bag and stepped up on the first step. "What was that about?" she demanded, feeling more like herself already. "Did the brakes fail? What in god's name happened on that hill?"  
The driver just stared straight ahead, cap pulled over his eyes. Lina stepped up another step, to hear the door close behind her. Unsure of what to do, she deposited her fare and went to sit in the back of the bus.  
There were about fourteen passengers, all dressed in dark clothes, except for a child that was playing with a half-deflated balloon. They all looked sleepy too, tired after a long day of work. Lina checked her watch. 6:23 and already it was pretty dark. She wondered what Buffy and Willow and Xander were doing right now. Probably at the mall, or another club or something. It occurred to Lina that she wasn't sure there was a mall in Sunnydale. All of a sudden she felt a pang of homesickness. To be back in her old city, with her old friends. Even Naga's laugh wouldn't be that annoying. Wait a second, Lina stopped herself abruptly. Who was Naga? And what was it about her laugh that just the idea of it made her dizzy?  
She dismissed the idea of Naga and her hideous laugh and checked out the window to find the next stop was hers. She reached her hand up to ring the bell and found the cord disconnected. All of a sudden she had a really dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach. She heard a pop, and an explosion of color as the child with the balloon popped it a few feet from her nose. She stood up, almost falling over and ran to the doors.  
"Driver, I need to get off!" The bus kept speeding down the road as though she had never said anything. "Driver, this is my stop. I want off NOW!" she tried to hide the panic from her voice but it was to no avail. Frantically, she tried to hammer her elbow through the glass in the door. It didn't even chip the glass and her elbow ached terribly. She glanced up at the manual opener, above the door itself, but the glass wouldn't break there either. She dove into her bag, rummaging desperately, when she was suddenly turned around and pushed up against the door. A vicious looking vampire looked down at her, and began to open its mouth and descend towards her neck. Lina located what she'd been searching for, popped the cork and tipped the bottle of Holy Water down its throat. It gasped and screeched, before evaporating right in front of her.  
Lina dropped her bag and her feet, a crucifix in one hand, a stake in the other. After last night she figured she ought to come prepared. The next vampire hurled itself at her mindlessly and plunged right into the stake. It evaporated too, freeing her stake for the one that came at her next, pushing her to the back of the bus. She kicked it back, but she wasn't strong enough to have an affect on the creature. It came lunging at her again, this time knocking the stake from her hand. Lina gasped, clutching to the crucifix as hard as she could, and thrusted it out towards the vampire. She took it by surprise, as it stepped back as though she had waved flaming torch at it. It winced and then dove at her again, despite the pain.  
Lina heard a crash above and then behind her, outside the bus. A body dropped through the emergency air vent just in front of her, and behind the vampire. He drove a stake through the bloodsucker, catching it completely off guard. Zel ran towards where Lina was lying, sprawled across the back seats in the bus, crucifix at the ready.  
"Put that down!" He ordered, and she did, carefully, and then bent to pick up the stake she had dropped.  
"No." Zel looked around, as more of the 'people' got out of their seats in Zombie manner and started towards Lina. "There are too many here to get them all and we're too close to a nest where there are more." He hoisted himself through the vent up on top of the bus, and then reached down for her hand. He tugged her up, kicking back at the zombies as they reached lazily up towards the opening in the ceiling on the bus. He stood up, trying to maintain balance as the bus picked up speed and began to swerve again. He picked Lina up then, and hurdled off the back of the bus, landing first on his feet, and then clumsily underestimating the extra weight, was driven forward onto his knees.  
Lina stood up, brushed herself off and helped Zel up. "Look, thank you, but no thank you. I didn't need your help."  
Zel said nothing as he adjusted his cape, pretending not to hear her.  
"I hate it when guys victimize girls like that. Just because I'm smaller than you are doesn't mean I don't know how to take care of myself. I had everything under control."  
"Famous last words." Zel muttered. "In case you hadn't noticed, you killed three out of fifteen. And that last one would have finished you off."  
"Don't treat me like I don't know what I'm doing!" Lina felt good, letting off some steam for once rather than pretending everything was just peachy-keen. "I knew what to bring and how to handle it. I hate it when people patronize me too. I'm not some brainless little girl that can't go down the street by herself without getting into trouble and needing some overblown hero to come to the rescue. I'm not helpless, so stop acting like I need a big strong guy to depend on."  
"No one said you were helpless or brainless or anything like that." Zelgadis looked down at her like she was helpless, brainless and everything like that. "But you're not a Slayer. You don't have the gift of strength and stamina the way the Slayer does. You may be able to polish off a few vampires with a stake and some Holy Water, but you can't rely your strength the way a Slayer can. I thought you would have figured out after last night that girls shouldn't wander Sunnydale after sun down."  
"You know about the Slayer?" Lina dismissed the last remark, intrigued that he might know about Buffy. For once she'd have the upper hand.  
"Every vampire knows about the Slayer. She has killed many of my acquaintances, as have her predecessors."  
"Oh." Lina wasn't sure how good an idea it would be to carry on this conversation.  
"It doesn't matter to me anymore. It used to matter that I knew that somewhere people were dieing. Then I became a vampire and everything changed. I didn't even care if vampires, people I had known for so long, died right in front of me. It didn't matter if they killed each other or if I killed them myself. Death is part of life, and everyday I am reminded that I don't have the luxury of peace that comes with death."  
The morbidity of that confession made Lina's blood run cold. "Have you ever thought about taking your life?"  
"Many times. Perhaps I don't have the guts to do it. Or perhaps I keep thinking that there is a chance for me still, even after centuries of years of solitude."  
"What kind of chance?"  
"The chance to be mortal again. The chance to…"  
"What?" Lina found herself clinging to his every word.  
"Nothing. It doesn't matter anymore. It was an impossibility even while I was human." He started walking towards her old stop.  
"No, there is something. I can tell!" Lina had to jog to keep up with Zelgadis.  
Zel stopped right in front of Lina, and she almost collided with him again. "You try to pretend to understand things that you will never be able to. You live the life of a mortal child, and I live that of an undead demon. You can't pretend to know what it is to possess that kind of life, to live in misery and isolation."  
Lina looked down at the oddly shaped pebbles that lined the dirty asphalt. It was the truth, she realized, that she appeared to him to be some scrawny, spoiled little girl, staring at him as a toddler stares at a crippled man; with curiosity and a horrid fascination. But without compassion. "I didn't mean…"  
"It's obvious that you didn't." Zel replied coldly. "You wouldn't think ahead, think about anyone other than yourself. You're so driven to find out what makes a demon tick?" The cruel sarcasm in his voice was evident, so much so he almost regretted his tone.  
"I'm sorry." Lina said quietly. "I am, because that's not what I think of you. You think you're a monster, but you're not. You don't have the soul of a monster. I…I…"  
That struck Zel. What had he expected her to say? Had he expected this child to run away and cry? Was he pushing her away from him?  
Lina composed herself quietly, waiting for a response. Finally, she said, "You are what you believe. But I can tell that you're afraid."  
"Afraid of what?" Zel turned to her, grasping her shoulders tightly. He would show Lina that he wasn't afraid, not of a little girl.  
Lina managed a humorless smile. "You're afraid of friendship and you're afraid of loving people. You're afraid of betrayal, and you're afraid of somebody you love not loving you back."  
"I'm not in love with you." Zel released her coolly, turning away from her again.  
Lina felt as though he had knocked the air of out her. What was she doing, trying to pretend she was in love with Zelgadis? But her words escaped her mouth, if only whispered. "I'm afraid of that too."  
Zelgadis turned to her, and reached for her hand. It was dwarfed by his rough, sturdy, well-used one. "You can't live in this world, where you sit back and let emotions drift you through life. It's hell, because I've done it and I know."  
Lina was crying now, quietly, and the tears streaked her dirt-smeared cheeks. Maybe because she was in love with someone who didn't love her back, or because this was something that she had known would happen. She didn't know how, but she felt like she knew it would, that it was an inevitable fate that had been waiting for her so long. "I…" She gasped through her tears and struggled to keep her voice steady. "I mean you can't go through life without emotions either. That's worse than hell, because you can't even love."  
"Lina…" The way Zel had said her name, it stung something inside of him. Like a pang of memory, a smell of a familiar flower, the taste of a potent wine that haunts with its familiarity. This made Zel shiver, and feel useless and helpless.  
He bent towards her, this hands caressing her stained cheek. He pressed his lips against hers and a flood of relief washed over him. This was right. Lina closed her eyes and felt the gentle prickles of tiny raindrops dance coolly on her eyelids. She heard the roar of thunder roll over the sky above them, and sighed, parting her lips from his. She inclined her head towards the storm, leaned her head back and letting the fresh, icy rain water lick her neck, and seep through her wavy red hair.  
She dove back into his arms fully again, embracing Zel. She wanted to cry again, because this was all she wanted, all she could ask for. She felt surrounded by ecstasy, by white passion. Lina pressed her lips against him and let herself collapse into him, with complete trust and warmth. She let the rain come.  



	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter 8  
  
"Damn." Xellos muttered loudly.  
"I beg your pardon?" Giles looked up from his dry mythical-demon and otherwise ancient abnormality textbook.  
"Nothing, nothing." Xellos waved Giles aside, and looked as though he was focusing on something mentally. "Look, I have this feeling that my slayer may be a little…late for her awakening." Xellos frowned, which was an absurdity in itself. "At least, her proper awakening."  
"Well, I have been trying to locate some information that may prove useful against…against…say, what are we up against?"  
"Slight technicalities, shall we say, prevent me from being able to reveal that to you at this time."  
"That's what you said, before, but I will not tolerate being led around by the nose by the likes of you." Giles was turning red with frustration.  
"Ne, ne, Rupert-kun, you shouldn't get yourself worked up about silly little difficulties. When the time is right, you will be informed."  
"And I suppose you took it upon yourself to decide when the time is right?"  
"You amaze me, Rupert-kun." Xellos spoke gravely, as he clutched his over-sized staff. "You live in a world that few people are aware of and less even dream about. You deal with worlds and dimensions of good and evil. Do not limit yourself to this Earth or to mortality or to me. I am nothing without Xellas or my Lord."  
"Who?"  
"If they wish you to know, I will tell you. But they do not as of yet, and I doubt they will soon, so for now you must trust what I have told you. It is all you have."  
As insane as the freaky little man was, he had a point. Giles didn't know what their new enemies were, and he wasn't going to be told but it's smarted to play with lit dynamite than to take a chance when demons and hell are involved.  
"Very well then. All I have found on the word you suggested, Seiyluun, was the Genie of Seiyluun.  
"Be a shiningly good Samaritan and read out that little paragraph, would you? My eyes aren't what they used to be."  
Giles believed him and read from the book.  
"It says, 'Thousands of years ago, on the real Earth, the first Earth, there were four legendary warriors. The first and most powerful was a childlike sorceress that was rumored to have been favored the almighty supreme Lord of Chaos and Balance, the Mother of Creation and Harmony and Black Magic, the Lord of Nightmares. The second served as her bodyguard, and although he worked without magic, he wielded an ancient, magnificently powerful sword called the Hikari No Ken, or the Sword of Light. The third was young man that had been cursed with powerful magic and strength, while at the same time the body of a horrific demon. See picture C."'  
Giles directed his attention at the picture in the side panel marked C. It was labeled 'Xalgods' and depicted a shoddily altered illustration of the Hindu god, Shiva.  
Giles cleared his throat unnecessarily and continued. " 'The fourth an final permanent addition to this band of travelers was a young girl driven by the Glory of Justice, The Divine Truth. She sought to right wrongs and harmonize the world. Five years after the group had been traveling together, the most powerful sorceress cast a powerful spell that corrupted Earth One, and killed her instantly. Her body disappeared, and her friends were left to their own devices. Destiny states that 2016 years after the sorceress cast her last deadly spell, the affects of it, evil and apocalyptic, will envelope the Second Earth, corrupting all life eternally. Legend also states that although two of the members of the traveling band went on unaccounted for, it was noted that a Priest of the time sealed the fourth one away in an ancient book, casting a binding spell upon her, so when the time came and the apocalypse drew near, that there may be someone to aid the war against the powerful magic from so long ago.'"  
"Well," Giles concluded. "That's all very well and good for a fairy tale, but what has that to do with the task at hand?"  
He noticed something quite large and pink and white out of corner of his eye. He turned and almost swallowed his tongue when he discovered that a small teenage girl in a glorified translucent Arab costume hovering in the lotus position slightly above the text he had just finished reading.  
Hello there!" She said cheerfully. "My name is Amelia Wil Tesla Seiyluun, Destroyer of Evil and Genie Extraordinaire."  
The curious sound Giles was making and the sound of Amelia's voice brought Buffy's groupies rushing to see what was wrong.  
"Does anyone else see an Egyptian slut?" Xander blinked several times, but the girl showed no signs of fading away tauntingly, the way all the other girls that wore too little did.  
"Excuse me!" Amelia sweatdropped. "I'm a GENIE, and-."  
"Oh, baby, you can make my wishes come true."  
"Cradle robber." Cordelia muttered.  
A four-foot, metallically binded, leather and bronze tome materialized in Amelia's hands. "Chapter five, section two, article three of the Genie Code and Conduct Manual states, and I quote, 'No intimate and/or sexual contact is to be made, orally or otherwise with any human, non-human, animal, inanimate object. No suggestive language, flirtatious remarks, demeaning or derogatory communication is to be exchanged between Genie and Master, and no form of verbal or cyber sex is permitted for any reason or circumstance.'"  
"Eternal celibacy sucks." Willow commented dryly.  
"Anyway, Xander is not your master. Giles is." Xellos pointed out.  
"M-me? And have I to do with it? I did not rub a lamp or make a wish or any such balderdash."  
Amelia grinned stupidly and bowed before her new master. "All you needed to do was read that passage from the Book."  
"That's preposterous. Anyone who ever read from that book could have set you free and at least a thousand irresponsible students could have released you at any time." Giles frowned at his genie.  
"When do you think the last time anyone signed out that book was?" Xander asked pointedly.  
"I still think it's all too easy. I have had my fair share of genie experiences, and I'll be the first one to admit, I don't much care for mischievous sprites or the likes. They're very tricky, always taking the side road, cutting corners, misleading people with false words and illusions. I don't like it at all."  
"The fact of the matter is, Rupert-kun, no one asked how you felt about it. This genie-master business is a give and take relationship, although granted, you do much more of the taking. Use this little gift to your advantage though; in a situation like the one we are about to embark on, a genie is no nuisance."  
"I suppose so. But for the sake of Buffy and Sunnydale." Giles sighed in resignation.  
"So, what are you going to wish for?" Cordelia's eyes lit up as she mentally recounted all the glorious possibilities owning a genie would consist of.  
"I suppose first and foremost, I ought to wish that the other Slayer arrives right now so we should get things underway?"  
"NO!" Xellos intervened very sharply. "Absolutely not, you will not waste a wish on the pre-ordained. It will be, because that is the only way that it can happen. One thousand different separate destinies all amounting to the arrival of the Slayer. She will come; of this I have no doubt. Use a wish for something we need that is not so certainly at our disposal."  
"Master?" Amelia made huge puppy-dog eyes, waiting for conformation that he would change his wish.  
"Very well then. I suppose it really is more practical to wish for more wishes. Genie, I wish for an infinite number of wishes."  
Instantly, the disproportionably huge tome reappeared in Amelia's hands and she scowled at Giles from behind it. "Chapter two, section two, article six of the Genie Code and Conduct Manual clearly states: 'At no time, and/or location or will a Master be permitted to wish for more than three wishes. Under no circumstances, emergency or otherwise, will a mortal be granted excessive wishes. No personal preference will be made by Genie to master, denoting to gender, age, weight, race, hobbies, physical appearance or personality traits. Wishes are non-transferable, non-exchangeable and will not be reimbursed by the personal Genie or U.G.U."  
"Oogoo?" Willow exchanged a mortified look with Xander and Cordelia.  
"U.G.U. The United Genies Union. They mailed my copy of the Genie's Code and Conduct Manual just last decade. I barely had time to read it before I was summoned by Giles-sama."  
Giles looked at the manual with revulsion. "Is that entire manual an overblown list of provisos?"  
"Not overblown at all, but yes, it is a rulebook." Amelia's eyes shot heavenward at the giddy notion of strictly formatted regulations. The law was a divine, divine thing. Without it there would be no righteous truth, no order and certainly no justice. It would be chaos.  
"Merciful Jesus, what can I wish for?" Giles felt as though he was going to explode, and if he didn't he would strangle Xellos. By some twisted, sick turn of events, Giles was positive it was all Xellos' fault. Perhaps if he did explode he could come back as a ghost and haunt Xellos and slowly drive him even further over the edge. Yes, that's what he'd do. It was the funny farm for Xellos once Giles got through with him.  
"Whoa…this isn't the soccer field, is it?" An awkwardly tall, vacant-looking young man with very long blonde hair had stumbled his way into the library a few moments ago and had been watching the goings on with disinterested confusion.  
"Can I help you?" Giles turned in frustration to the boy.  
The kid seemed to be lost in a simple little world of this own. "No, this is a book place, not a soccer place. If I could only remember the directions on how to get to the soccer place…"  
"What's your name, son?" Xellos leaned towards the boy with exaggerated inquisitiveness.  
"Umm…Gourry, yeah, Gourry Gabriev."  
Xellos got up and extended a friendly hand for Gourry to shake. Gourry paused stupidly looking at the hand, and then finally decided what it was for and pumped it eagerly. "Yes, yes, my name is Xellos Matallium. Pleased to meet you."  
"For heavens sake, Xellos, we have enough on our plate right now without this big lug. Young man, do you mind?" Giles folded his arms irritably.  
"Mind what?" Gourry's mind was on what two guys who seemed very eager to be left alone with four underage girls in a dark library on a Saturday were up to.  
Xellos turned back to look a Giles, hanging his head as if to say 'tsk, tsk, tsk'. "Well, it seems obvious that this boy knows too much. He'll create a citywide panic that we just can't afford to have right now. Our only option is to recruit him to our side."  
"Our only option, huh?" Giles stared out a window that one really could not stare out of considering that it was boarded up from the outside. "Very well then."  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter 9  
  
Scarlet paint peeled poetically from the walls and them smell of sandalwood incense conquered the quiet room. Various article of clothing lay strewn across the cold concrete floor. There were two tables, one by the bed and one by the door. The one by the bed was mahogany, and six white and red candlesticks of various heights and widths. The one by the door looked like oak but was actually just a particularly cheap piece of plastic that supported incense and more candles in dusty brass holders. The bed itself was queen sized, with four four-foot colonial brass bead posts. The sheets were plain, unstained white cotton while the quilt was made of silk and colored a deep wine red.  
Lina lay beside Zel's cool body. Her hair was tousled and still wet from the rain, and the sweat didn't help either. But now she felt warm and soft and loved. It was as though lust danced proudly behind her eyes so that when she reached out to touch him, he responded and pulled his arms gently around her, holding her in silent, blissful exchange.  
"I don't know what to say." Lina truly didn't, but she knew she had to say something. This wasn't what she had expected, or even what she had thought she wanted, but now she wished she could stay next to him forever.  
Zelgadis sighed, half contentedly and half as though he were holding something back.  
"What is it?"  
"Oh, I was just trying to remember. There was a girl. I don't remember who she was or why she even stands out in my mind."  
"In bed?" Lina's voice went shrill. Then logic gave her a swift kick in the ass and reminded her that if this guy had been around for over millennium or something ungodly like that, she couldn't have been his first.  
"No, not in bed." Zel sounded appalled at the idea. "I don't umm…entertain much. But that girl, she had red hair like you. Big crimson eyes I think. Everything is so far back, it's impossible to remember things like that…I'm surprised I do."  
"Do you remember her name?"  
Zelgadis looked at her with wide eyes. "Yes, I do. Her name was Lina!"  
"Like me? There was a girl that looked and had the same name as me?"  
"Yeah, I know it sounds strange. I remember that she loved the color red."  
Lina smiled and kissed him. "Red's my favorite."  
"I still remember Xellos' stupid smirk, I just-." Zel sat up in bed and stared at her.  
"Who's Xellos?" Lina propped herself up on one elbow to look intently at his face.  
"It's coming back. You disappearing, then Gourry and then Amelia. I remember Xellos did - I don't understand. How can you be here, now, like this?"  
"Zel, you're not making any sense. What do you mean by, 'you disappearing', and who are Gourry and Amelia?"  
"Don't you remember anything? No, you couldn't. But how come you're here now? Is this all just a dream?"  
"Slow down! What are you talking about?' Lina was rapidly growing impatient.  
"Before Akahoshi Rezo managed to turn me into a vampire, I knew you and Gourry and Amelia. We traveled together, went on adventures. We thought we had killed Rezo and his clone, but they were both clones themselves and mortals have apparently never even seen the real one. I have a feeling that something strange is going to happen soon, and we're going to be a part of it. Do you have any idea how to contact that Slayer of yours?"  
"I don't know what you're going on about. But I can get in touch with Buffy and Giles if I need to. Before that, I could swing by the library at my school and take a few books out. I like to be able to research things like this, because I believe in vampire instinct, okay?"  
Zel smiled at her trust and caressed her cheek fondly with his large, now quite warm hand.  
"Zelgadis, I love you." Lina muttered, her eyes closed.  
"I love you too, Lina." He kissed her tenderly on the forehead. Zelgadis pulled back the sheets to so that he could change and go with her. All of a sudden, he felt pain stab him ruthlessly and repeatedly by his shoulder blades. He fell forward off the bed and onto the cold floor, and shriveled as he panted with pain.  
"Zel? Zelgadis!" Lina jumped up from her bed and ran next to him, trying vainly to pull him to his feet. She succeeded pulling him onto his knees and trying to question him to help him, but it made no difference and he couldn't respond through teeth gritted hard against agony.  
A brilliant strobe-like light pulsed from his back and Lina saw two enormous feathery black wings grow from his back like a raven. They reached their full size and ceased to expand, and left Zelgadis a shaken, panting and frightened still curled into a ball but on his knees. He finally managed an agonized glance up at her, with eyes contained a mixture of regret and gentle warmth. He stumbled onto his feet, allowing Lina to help him steady himself by leaning on her shoulder.  
'You have a wings." Lina idiotically blurted out.  
"It's broken." Zel said. "Akahoshi's curse on me. The only way to break it was if even as an chimera and a demonic servant of hell, an Angel could fall in love with me and I with her."  
"I'm not an angel." Lina shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.  
Zel put his arms around her body and held her closely. "You're my angel." He whispered into her ear. "And then," he spoke more loudly, "I could gain my wings and join her in heaven. But I will always be a chimera."  
"And I would always love you for it." Lina kissed his shoulder.  
"Well," Zel began, as he steadied himself, and stood straight without Lina's help, "We were going to go to the library and to find the Slayer. Now we'll get there considerably quicker, won't we?"  
  
  
Giles growled. He was not in the habit of growling really, but life was not going his way. He was trapped in the school library with a snob, smart geek and a dumb geek, an air-headed athlete, a unionized genie and, most irritating of the lot, Xellos.  
"Penny for your thoughts, Rupert-kun?" Xellos asked as he polished his staff with Giles' tie, which Giles had removed an hour or so ago as it was not giving enough room for the vein that popped out of his neck when he seethed with frustration.  
"My thoughts, you want? I think this is an unproductive waste of time. Nothing is getting done and this apocalypse of yours is practically on our door step." Giles removed his glasses and inspected them for dust.  
"Well, it's really your fault. Rupert-kun. I mean, you could be making wishes right now."  
"That's foolish." Giles shook his head. "If we are to fight evil…eventually…then we should save these for when we truly need them, not for something to do."  
Xellos clapped his hands most enthusiastically. "Excellent, Rupert-kun! You have learned something very important. Valuable things ought never be wasted."  
"And I suppose you're going to tell me that you taught me that?" Giles frowned. "Honestly, I'm at least ten years older than you and have learned far more. Really, I am well aware it pays to conserve."  
Xellos grinned. "Once again you amaze me." He gave a soft, lighthearted laugh. "You've worked with literature for twenty-two years, four months and eighteen days and you still haven't learned the books greatest lesson? Do not - ever - judge a book by its cover."  
How did you know?-." Giles began but he was interrupted by a large pair of….  
"Giles, this isn't doing us any…" Xander sauntered up to Giles and then his expression changed very dramatically. "…good…MORNING! Er...afternoon...umm…wanna make crazy naked love?"  
Xander was greeted, as Giles was moments before, with a pair of impossibly large breasts, which were attached to a very tall, thin girl with long black hair and a saucy smirk plastered across her face.  
"OOOOOOOOha ha ha ha!" The girl guffawed at Xander's blatantly stupid question and her whole body, particularly the upper region, shook with each chuckle. "Ano, can someone tell me if Cordelia is here?"  
Cordelia emerged from her distracted peer group, Buffy close behind. "Hi, Naga. What are you doing here?" Cordelia asked.  
"You said you would go to the beach with me!" Naga pouted.  
"Look, I'm sorry about that. I have to - ."  
"Study!" Buffy jumped in. 'She's studying for the final exam with us.  
Naga seemed to accept that with a nod. Then she frowned a contemplative frown. Her brows furled and she bit her lower lip. Something didn't compute.  
"Why are you studying now then? Exams are two months away!" Naga jutted her chest out towards Buffy in an unspoken challenge.  
Willow beat Buffy to it. "Well, Cordelia failed all of her exams last semester, so we thought she really needed the extra time." Cordelia shot an 'oh-my-god-you-are-so-lucky-Buffy-is-here-or-I'd-kick-your-scrawny-ass' look at Willow but nodded at Naga with a sycophantic grin.  
Naga nodded but battled with this inwardly. Something was NOT right. "Well, Cordelia, why are you hanging around such total losers when you could have been with me!"  
Buffy frowned, but Willow jumped in again. "Because losers are smart and Cordelia isn't so it's natural that she would need our help."  
Upon hearing this, fury rippled through Cordelia's eyes but she said nothing.  
"Well," Xellos began, rolling up his sleeves, "If you want the honest truth, Naga, we are a band of vampire slayers and we are waiting for one of the strongest Slayers to arrive so that we may be prepared to face what threatens to be the End of the World."  
Naga brandished a very blank look and then slipped into default mode. "OOOOOOha ha ha ha! You are funny, little purple man! But the great Naga can see through your trickery!"  
"Very well then, toddle on back outside and await your doom, but you needn't impede our progress." Xellos's words were harsher than his joking tone.  
"What progress?" Giles muttered.  
Naga seemed torn between pride in her latter statement and worry that if she was wrong and the world was ending, all her favorite sleazy fashion outlets would go with it. "But…" she began and then faltered.  
"Xellos, why did you tell her?!" Buffy decided she had more than enough to worry about without adding to her troubles by including more unnecessary little helpers.  
As though he had read her mind, Xellos said, "I assure you, Buffy-chan, that whomever I tell is more than capable of handling themselves in this little venture of ours."  
Xander leaned over to Giles. "Is it just me, or is it a little bit the creepy that this guy seems to know all this stuff he isn't planning on sharing with us?"  
"Yes it is, but if you can find a way to get it out of him, I'd be glad to hear it."  
Willow kissed her teeth and shook her head. "I think what he means, Giles, is that maybe his Slayer isn't as wholesome and gentle as this guy wants us to think."  
"Yeah," Buffy joined in, "I mean, I'm starting to get the tingle that maybe this guy is Keyser Sozing us."  
"What?" Giles turned to Buffy.  
Buffy's reply was drowned out by the heart stopping sound of shattering glass, which echoed through the otherwise deserted library. Buffy, Willow and Xander sprinted towards the windows at the back of the room, with Cordelia, Naga, Amelia the Genie, Gourry and Giles in hot pursuit. Xellos, however, seemed thoroughly relaxed.  
"Oh. My. God." Buffy commented.  
Just outside the shattered library window was a very blue man with grey-blue flakes covering his half naked body. Huge, feathery black wings beat against the otherwise warm, listless air. He was holding a girl in his arms. A girl with long, shimmering crimson hair. The blue man smiled and landed softly on the windowsill. The girl in his arms descended from his arms gingerly, careful not to step on any glass, as her feet were bare.  
"LINA?!" Buffy and Willow exploded simultaneously. Xander was notably less concerned, as Lina allowed him to help her off the windowsill and over the glass that lay strewn plentifully across the thinly carpeted floor. The blue man folded his enormous wings and jumped down onto the floor, despite his bare feet, in one fluent motion.  
"Yes?" Lina's eyes sparkled and a watery smile beamed across her pretty face.  
Buffy was livid. "What are you doing here? Who's that?" she added, distress towards Zelgadis easily recognizable in her voice.  
"This is Zelgadis, Buffy. Buffy, meet Zelgadis. Zel, this is the Slayer."  
"What the HELL!?" Buffy rounded on Lina. "WHO IS HE?!!"  
"Calm down, Buffy-chan." Xellos's rather feminine voice cut through the confusion like a well-sharpened katana. "This is my Slayer."  
  



	10. Chapter Ten

CHAPTER 10  
  
"Lina?" Buffy shook her head. "Lina's a slayer? Are you kidding me?"  
Lina shot an indignant snort Xellos-ward. "Who are you?"  
Zelgadis, meanwhile, had seized Xellos' cloak by the collar and was pulling the small purple man slowly towards him, a look of pure loathing etched into his cold blue eyes. "I don't know exactly who you are, but I'm sure that I hate you!" he announced to all present.  
"Ne, Zelly, you needn't be so judgmental. Most people learn to love me!"  
This of course only seemed to antagonize the chimera further.  
"Zel, please stop it. Maybe he's someone important." Lina did her best to imagine a purple-haired diplomat.  
"Will someone please inform me when we have figured out what the blue thing is and why it's trying to strangle the purple one?" Cordelia threw up her hands in resignation and vacated to the study table where they had spent the last few hours.  
"Cordelia, for once, has the right idea." Giles spoke up, over the mini mob. "Let's all just sit down and we can discuss this all, calmly and rationally. And maybe then someone will tell me why it wasn't dramatic enough to come through the door." Giles added, under his breath.  
"Rupert-kun is right!" Xellos announced, trying to look away from the very menacing face that was very much invading his personal space. Zel consented to that and released Xellos grudgingly. The troupe meandered back to the tables. As he passed, Giles shook his head regretfully.  
"I do wish we had insurance on that window."  
"GRANTED!" a very shrill little voice exploded through the library. The fluorescent lights flickered rapidly and two miniature tornadoes erupted out from Amelia's palms and wreaked minor havoc over Giles' carefully sorted papers and articles.  
Finally the tornadoes retreated back towards their master and the lighting stabilized into an irritating glow. The library was in a horrid state of disarray. Papers carpeted the floors, books carpeted the papers and four rather heavy bookshelves had toppled over on one another. Giles looked as though he were one the brink of a coronary. Buffy caught him and helped him over to the table, which Willow had removed the contents of the Dewy Decimal System from only seconds before.  
"Now Rupert-kun, that was a very poor choice of wishes, wasn't it?" Xellos gave Giles a disappointed look, which he quite immediately shrugged off. "Well, what's done is done. No point in crying over wasted wishes. But on to business. The first matter at hand concerns my Slayer."  
"Who's that?" asked Lina.  
"You, of course."  
"I'm not a slayer!" Lina growled at the purple man.  
Xellos sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "This gets so tiring. I want to have a bubble bath. Let me explain a little more, simply because I do not wish to repeat exactly what I have already said for the ninth time.  
"2016 years ago, on an entirely different dimension, there existed an utterly magical and mysterious world. Its name is of no consequence, but it bares resemblance in several ways to feudal Europe, round about medieval times. This world was created by, to quote a quaint piece of literature already recited for us by Rupert-kun, ' the Almighty supreme Lord of Chaos and Balance, the Mother of Creation and Harmony and Black Magic, the Lord of Nightmares.' I am really not interested in the recanting to you all the history of this world, but suffice it to say that this age was truly turbulent, what with magic and mazoku and kamizoku and all the rest."  
"Mazoku? What the hell's a mazoku?" Buffy asked.  
Giles furled his brow. "It sort of means 'monster', but not entirely, if you understand. From what I know of Japanese, mazoku is really a bit more than a monster. It's a demon or ghost or magical, somewhat evil entity, or all of the above."  
"Oh." Buffy didn't really understand, so she decided it was best to keep silent.  
"Before I was interrupted, I was noting that there were great celestial wars and what have you, aside from human bickering and the rest. Among humans, however, were an…shall we say, extraordinary bunch. Just as it was written, four exceptionals stand out in history, particularly for me, as I knew them well. A swordsman that wielded what is undeniably the most powerful sword in creation, for it was crafted of light and pure energy."  
"Ooooo, full-on lightsaber." Xander mused dryly.   
"Yes, I rather enjoyed that movie too. Anyway, another was a slight girl of noble blood, heroic and righteous with powers denoting to goodness and purity. The white magician of the group. A third was a young man who had the misfortune of being quite related to Akahoshi Rezo, and was cursed to share his humanity with the form of two other creatures; the golem and the demon. But he was not to follow their evil; just doomed to a constant state of self-pity." Xellos grinned madly at Zel, who was gritting his granite teeth. "The last was a elfin sorceress with amazing powers, a short temper and a uniquely mind-boggling appetite. These four would challenge a powerful Dark Lord, Deep Sea Dolphin, and that's really how the whole thing got started. Any questions?"  
"Yeah, actually, would you mind repeating all that? In English, perhaps?" Buffy crossed her arms impatiently.  
Xellos sighed. "Yare, yare…why did my mistress send me to do this? Why are twentieth centaury humans so hopelessly dense? Why did I leave my hand cream back at the motel? Why?" he moaned to himself for a moment longer before resuming his rather long narrative. "Very well. Long time ago. Other dimension. Sorcery, magic. Four people pick fight with a demigod. Four people almost lost. But they got lucky. Am I being understood?"  
"Yes, but it makes no sense! Who are those people, and what do they have to do with us? Or with anything?" Willow asked.  
"Those four people are the ones you see before you right now. Gourry the swordsman, Amelia the princess, Zelgadis the chimera and Lina the sorceress!" Xellos announced their identities as though broadcasting to a live studio audience for some kind of twisted game show. And right on queue, things seemed to click.  
"Gourry!" Amelia exclaimed.  
"Amelia!" Gourry exclaimed.  
They hugged and Amelia sniffled.  
"Zelgadis!" Gourry launched himself at the rather private chimera, which Zelgadis allowed for only a moment before peeling the big blond fool off him like a rather intrusive leach.  
"Zelgadis-san!" Amelia shrieked, pummeling onto Zel like a virtuous fungus and attaching herself to his waist where she proceeded to wail about how much she had missed him and how kind he had been two millenniums ago and so on and so forth. Amelia being sweet and of the female persuasion, Zel allowed this intrusion on his much prioritized personal space a moment longer than he had with Gourry before removing her and setting her down beside the swordsman. He then turned to Lina.  
"Lina, I always wanted to tell you, I've always know it, but I didn't feel like…"  
"Always known what? Since when?" Lina frowned. "Do you guys all know each other?"  
"Y-you don't remember anything? Anything at all?" Zel looked as though someone had stolen his favorite cape.  
"OOOOOOOOha ha ha ha! She does so! Lina is simply embarrassed that I, Naga, her most powerful, sexiest Ultimate Rival is here, stronger and more breathtaking than ever, ne Lina?"  
Zelgadis cringed. Apparently this bosomy broad was well acquainted with Lina. The question was could he tolerate her maniacal laugh?  
"Who are you?" Lina stared up at Naga with a mixture of disbelief and horrified fascination.  
Zelgadis had had it. He turned to Xellos, who was of course grinning stupidly as always. "What the hell is wrong with her? WHY CAN'T SHE REMEMBER?!!!"  
Xellos sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Ne, Zel-kun, she must take her time. If you knew what she has been through…"  
"What she's been through!" Zel cried incredulously. "Was it torture? Was it a nightmare? Was it sucking the blood out of living beings just to stay alive?"  
With that Buffy's spider sense tingled and she brandished a rather pointy stake from Giles' storeroom and attempted to plunge it into Zel's chest. Lina leapt from her seat.  
"Nooo!" Lina screamed.  
The stake split down the center, splintering in Buffy's hand. She looked sidelong at Zelgadis. "What are you?"  
Zel was forced to smile and he grasped Lina's hand. "I'm a chimera. And it's moments like these I'm proud to be part rock." He grinned as Lina's face, contorted with worry, morphed into a blissful smile.  
Zel turned to Xellos. "Why can't she remember? What ordeal have you put her through? How did she end up here?"  
Xellos waved his index finger to and fro. "Take it easy, Zel-kun. One thing at a time."  
Zel growled. "Mazoku bastard."  
Buffy's eyebrows raised and her hand quite immediately gripped another stake. "Mazoku?" she asked. "As in, monster?"  
A strange, uncharacteristically quirky smirk trickled across Zel's lips. "Yes. Yes, Xellos is a mazoku. Aren't you, Xellos?"  
"Why, yes. Of course I am. But-."  
At that precise moment, Xellos was interrupted as stake met gaudy purple cloak and Xellos vanished instantly.  
"Ha! Dustage!" Willow announced.  
"You didn't kill him." Zel countered.  
"Quite right, Zel." Xellos' disembodied voice haunted to cold library room. "Although, it wasn't very polite of you to let them stake me."  
"You let them stake me!"  
"That's different." Xellos replied, without further explanation. "If you apologize promptly, I will come back."  
Zel snorted. "What kind of a bargain is that?"  
"The kind where if I don't come back, Lina doesn't remember you, you don't learn what you are up against and you will all die horrible, tragic deaths that could be prevented if only you just said you were sorry."  
Zel decided his main precedence involved Lina getting her memory back, followed (some ways down the road) by trying not to sacrifice innocent lives. "I'm sorry." Zel muttered sheepishly.  
"I beg your pardon? I didn't quite catch that."  
"I said I'm sorry." Zelgadis repeated, through very unapologetic gritted teeth.  
"And exactly why are you sorry, Zel-kun?"  
"I'm sorry that you didn't drop out of existence 12,000 years ago and that your carcass isn't rotting in a pit of your own vomit."  
"Very well, good enough." Xellos materialized on top of a table with Buffy's stake protruding grotesquely from his chest. Xellos turned to Buffy. "Did you want this back, or can I keep it?"  
"By all means…" Buffy started.  
"No one's apparently going to ask why these people are here, how they got here and what we've got to do with them." Giles played with his stereotypical British pocket watch.  
"Very well." Xellos continued. "The Slayers (and please note the modern ironic twist of the similarities in your Names) were…I guess in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they managed to find themselves in the company of a rather eccentric Dark Lord and were challenged to a battle to the death. Well, it was more of a massacre when you think about it; a child sorceress cannot be expected to best a goddess in battle. That aside, our protagonist had only one hope: to use the most powerful kind of dark magic, calling upon the powers of The Lord of Nightmares Herself. Only something went wrong. I could feel it before it happened. You see, to blunder that spell can destroy a planet, or corrupt it beyond imagining. Well, I'm sorry to say that it was corrupted beyond imagining. However, I foresaw this dreadful event and managed to salvage Lina, Gourry and Amelia in time, holding them in a sort of suspended animation until the blast cleared. I don't know what my Mistress' will was, but I did know it was of little consequence to her. I could not get Zel in time, but some sort of shield formed around him that was not my doing, nor was it his. So he was alive and I let him be. No I had to decide what to do with the rest.  
"The world was dark. Scary. Evil. It wasn't good. Deep Sea Dolphin, the dark lord in question, was very, very angry and managed to locate some kind of wildly distorted magic portal caused by the spell that allowed her to entrance to Earth Two, this world. It is lucky and delightfully in our favor that fate chose this dimension for her to access. Any other dimension and we'd all surely be dead by now. But with only her power to work with, Deep Sea Dolphin had to be ridiculously resourceful. That aside, Deep Sea Dolphin knows that I helped Lina and company and now has a rather ugly grudge against Xellas-sama, my mistress. Normally that would be of little consequence, but she planned to train an army and manifest her own mind into the mind of the Most Powerful Sorcerers In Both Dimensions and then attack Xellas with that. Perhaps if that only meant humans it would not be so bad, but I am susceptible to attack as well. So I asked Xellas-sama if I could use Lina and Gourry and Zelgadis and Amelia to attack Deep Sea Dolphin and she told me to use anything within my means. She also told me I could keep two people in that nether realm, but I had to do something with the rest. Zelgadis was easy. I could just shift him between dimensions without him even knowing. Amelia I imprisoned as a genie and that left Lina and Gourry to suspended animation, which was fine by me. I awakened them only a few weeks ago with slightly…altered memories so that they wouldn't have too many questions. You must also understand, although the portal in the Slayers World in left unguarded, Xellas has given me reason to believe that Deep sea Dolphin is in possession of the other portal that we will need to return to that world."  
"You can't possess a portal!" Willow protested.  
"I keep forgetting I'm up to my earlobes in magical experts." Xellos' tone was a great deal gentler than his words.  
"Well, I am Wiccan."  
"So you worship a pair of gods and revere nature. Your Wiccan powers, though useful they are, are no precious little to aid the immediate battle."  
"Well, what can we do then? And what does it matter?" Buffy stood up, pulling her shiny blonde hair into a slender ponytail. "This isn't our fight. You can all go back to your little world and we can get all get on with our lives."  
Xellos shook his head, almost somberly. "I aforementioned Deep Sea Dolphin's eccentricity and it is no exaggeration. She is planning to use, in addition to all magical entities within her reach (which is plenty, do believe), she plans on inhabiting anyone strong enough to get rid of anything that crosses her path quietly and passively. In an army, pawns are every bit as important as the Queen, just not as powerful. So that puts you at risk, Buffy-chan. Anything with fighting potential she will put at her disposal. She isn't very sane." He added, smilingly.  
"Yes, well, all in favor of sacrificing Buffy to an evil goddess for the sake of Sunnydale?" Xander polled. Cordelia raised her hand. "All opposed?' The opposite reaction.  
"Good. Now what?" Buffy asked.  
"Now he brings Lina's memory back." Zel, who had been waiting very patiently, now demanded.  
"Certainly, Zel-kun." Xellos grinned.  
Lina blinked. First her small, adolescent face exhibited a very blank, vacant look. That morphed into a frown which in turn became a pout."  
"Someone tell me when the monster guy stops playing musical face." Cordelia requested.  
Lina's face lit up. Her eyes opened wide and she smiled. "Okay, the first thing we need to do is form a plan of action! We need to strategize who exactly is with us and who our adversaries are. We need a plan of attack and some sort of chart to map out our team's strengths and therefore the most efficient station for them to cover! But first I have to go to the bathroom!" Lina turned from the very flabbergasted breakfast club and headed down the long corridors.  
Zel followed in hot pursuit.  
"Thinking of joining me, Zel?"  
Zelgadis blushed. "About what happened…I didn't know it was you at the time, but I always wanted to tell you that…that's what I've always wanted." Zel paused and then his eyes widened in embarrassment. "Not the…the thing of course, but the emotions that go with it, if you understand. I always wanted you to know that's how I felt, that's what I dreamed."  
Lina looked blankly at Zel. "What're you talking about?"  
Zel's jaw hit the floor. "Well, the thing that we…." He felt very unfamiliar tears sting his eyes. "You don't remember. You don't remember."  
"Don't remember what?" Lina asked brightly.  
"That…I told you that I missed you while you were gone. That's it. That's all." Zelgadis had never felt so weak in his life. L-sama, let the world swallow me up, he thought miserably. What's the point of living? Now that my angel…  
"Well, I'm just gonna use the facilities then." Lina smiled at him. "Aren't flush toilets great? And Zel? Nice wings." She winked at him and skipped on down the empty hallway towards the girl's bathroom, not feeling as though her life had fallen apart and now everything was meaningless.  
Zel stood alone in the empty school corridor for a moment, reflecting on the source of his misery. He wondered if he would ever love anyone the same way as he loved her. He could tell her, he realized, but what if she never really felt that way about him, and it was only Xellos' spell that made her do what she had done? It would be like taking advantage of her, and if she wasn't really in love with him, their friendship would end forever and Zel could never forgive himself for hurting her so deeply. Then he went to kill Xellos.  
"What the HELL did you to her?!!" The library doors slammed violently behind Zelgadis as he snatched Xellos up by the collar and shook him ferociously.  
"Calm down, Zel-kun." Xellos seemed entirely unimpressed and cruelly unmoved by Zel's uncharacteristic show of emotion. "I warned you."  
"You didn't!" Then he paused. "Warned me about what?"  
Xellos frowned. "Oh. You're right, Zel-kun. I didn't actually warn you, but I did mean to. I always have the best of intentions, you know. Well, I meant to warn you that Lina will remember only what she chooses. You see, the identity she knows in this world is a part of her - a repressed part of her soul that only becomes apparent when the dominating part is dormant or unconscious, which may occur after a trauma, physical or otherwise. In her case, the submissive and less self-serving side arose after the time she spent in suspended animation, which was a huge shock to her internal system. You suffered minor effects to, Zel-kun. You cared about her. You cared about her alone, in the dark, on the street when she could have been anyone and you didn't have to help her but you did. Part of you has changed, Zelgadis. Maybe you'll never be the same."  
"Why? Why did she have to go through that?" Zelgadis muttered, his eyes downcast and his teeth clenched. His and everyone else's lives where in the hands of a man who couldn't even take himself seriously.   
"Through what?"  
"Trapped, alone for thousands of years. Why? Answer."  
"Can you think of a better way? We knew what Deep Sea Dolphin was planning. You could go through time as mortals and die as mortals and then thousands of years down the road the world would be vanquished by an insane goddess. Or I could some way to make all immortal and save our world. You're all the best to come along in hundreds of years. Ever since."  
"We don't want to help. We could be dead, peaceful, happy by now and instead we've had to live eternity alone and over again."  
Xellos leaned hard on his staff and opened his eyes slightly. "Are you better for it?" He paused. "If that part of her wants to remember, it will. This is not a game, and this is the biggest game of all." And with that, he turned and left Zelgadis standing, silenced and shaken with loneliness.  



	11. Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER 11  
  
"Rupert-kun?"  
"Yes?"  
"I've been thinking a lot about this battle, and I must say, I'm having my doubts."  
"Your doubts?"  
"Yes."  
"Why?"  
"I've begun to forget what we're even fighting for. I haven't actually been back to my world since that encounter with the enemy, so what shape is our world even in? Is it even worth fighting for?"  
"I'm, afraid I don't understand."  
"If I could travel through time I would, but I cannot. When we left the world, it had just been hurled into oblivion, into darkness, into pure evil."  
"I thought you were evil?"  
"I suppose I am."  
"Then why does it matter to you?"  
"Many reasons, done of them obvious."  
"Name one."  
"Variety."  
"Variety?"  
"Certainly. I'm obviously not pure evil, and neither is my Mistress and neither is the Lord of Nightmares, and we are all equally irritated by the monotony of pure evil."  
"Any others?"  
"Let's see…career opportunities."  
"You're pulling my leg."  
"I wouldn't dream of it! My work is not nine-to-five-cubicle-three-I-like-my-coffee-BLACK kind of work. I do many, many things, and one is observe and interact with Lina. She's an interesting girl, you know. And more than that. Much more. Well, a world of pure evil demons and mazoku is one I would not have Lina return to, so I am forced to discard that option as part of my working day."  
"Is that all?"  
"No."  
"What else then?"  
"Sore wa himitsu desu."  
Giles rose from the concrete wall he and Xellos had been sitting on while they oversaw the training Buffy's and Lina's gang were enduring. Giles stretched. "Well tell us if you're about to back out because we're hardly about to risk our necks if you're all running scared."  
Xellos too dismounted the wall and cracked his knuckles. "Really, Rupert-kun, you're putting words into my mouth. Home sweet home or not, my Mistress' life is at stake, and frankly I would rather risk yours than hers. No offence, I hope?"  
"None taken." Giles stared silently and Buffy, who appeared to be in mortal combat with the tall blond boy who he vaguely remembered, was called Gourry. "Tell me honestly, does this Lina of yours really know magic?"  
"I never lie." Xellos said seriously. "I never tell the full truth and I never make promises but I never lie."  
Giles observed Willow, who had been standing dejectedly off to the side, as she approached him and the priest.  
"Mr. Xellos, can you actually tell me what we're up against? I mean, I know you said the goddess, or whatever she is, but what else? I mean, I think there's a safe consensus from our group to keep out of deity's way, but we're going to have to fight something, and we need to know what. Otherwise…"  
Xellos paused thoughtfully. "I had hoped that someone would ask me that…one of you, of course. Lina and her friends are better prepared and equipped. I shall summarize and inform you that you too are at risk, Yanagi-chan."  
Willow ignored what was apparently her new pet name. "I'm at risk? Why?"  
"She'll take everyone she can. Everyone with a great deal of strength or an iota of magic in their cells and she will take them, and they will be her army."  
Willow was definitely humbled. She tried to grin it off. "Compared to a goddess I guess I don't even have a iota of magic in my cells." She muttered.  
Xellos' eyes twitched open again. "You shouldn't compare yourself to Deep Sea Dolphin. Can I compare myself to Mother Theresa? Certainly not. Can I compare myself to the Lord of Nightmares? Preposterous! Am I comparable to Ted Bundy? Let us hope I am not! Judging yourself by comparison is a waste of time, and we can't afford that."  
Willow nodded dumbly.  
"Besides," Xellos added, "While you do not possess her power, she doesn't possess your heart."  
Willow's frown turned upside down into a huge, sugary grin.  
Xellos frowned. "I am simply stating an observation, so run along."  
Willow followed instructions well, toddling back to Xander and Cordelia and informing them on the latest update on the danger factor.  
An hour later there was a meeting of the minds (and in some cases, just the bodies) held back at the library.  
Lina took the floor right away. "I would like to being by assessing our assets, if that's alright?" No one threw anything at her, so she continued. "Zelgadis is the most powerful sorcerer here, other than Xellos. He's skilled with black magic and astral magic is his specialty. Amelia has fabulous expertise with white magic, defensive and healing. Naga…" she paused, clearing her throat, "Naga actually brings a number of skills to the table. First and foremost, she is a first-rate diversion and distraction to the enemy. Aside from physical…er, characteristics, her ability to conjure, or lack there of it would prove of a major diversion in our favor. Other than that she is decent with black magic and Amelia tells me she's an expert with white magic."  
"It isn't true!" Naga exploded. "I don't even KNOW that girl!"  
Amelia stood atop her chair, hands on waist, chest protruding. "Gracia, I'm surprised at your modesty! Only now, after ten years of training do my skills with white magic measure up to yours!" She turned to Lina. "Don't let her be silly. She ne-san is an excellent asset to the team!"  
"Thank you." Lina rolled her eyes. "If I may continue, Gourry has no magical ability, but does possess the Hikari no Ken, which is a very good thing."  
No one bothered to ask exactly what a Hikari no ken was, and they nodded numbly and allowed Lina to continue.  
"Next we have Buffy, who's actually an excellent asset. Her fighting skills are impeccable and her strength far surpasses normal men. Giles, although not possessing at powers abnormal to human condition, is great because of his experience with fighting and strategizing." Lina let out an exaggerated sigh. "If I haven't called your name, could you please stand up one at a time and tell us what potential value you have to the team."  
Willow stood up very slowly and clutched the dusty tabletop. She shot an uncomfortable look at Buffy and Buffy reciprocated. "I…well, you see, I'm Wiccan, and so I can do….there are things that a Wiccan person can…there are other powers in the world that…"  
"She has pretty amazing powers and would be a huge help in the effort."  
Buffy searched for the origin of the voice. "ANGEL!"  
Angel strode purposefully towards the conference table. "Planning a war without me?"  
"How did you-?"  
Angel's hands closed gently over Buffy's. "You think you always have to tell me what's going on in your life?"  
Buffy was speechless until Lina hollered for the meeting to continue.  
"Now," Lina said, impatiently, "We haven't actually discussed any strategies for dealing with Deep Sea Dolphin, and I would like to begin by saying-."  
And then the roof collapsed.   
  
Buffy pushed some loose drywall off of her back and managed to pull herself awkwardly to her feet. Willow followed in suite and was able to help Xander out from a pile of significantly heavier rubble with only minor nicks and bruises. Amelia was levitating in the lotus position beside Zelgadis, who seemed to be the only one more concerned with the cause of cave-in than its aftermath. Naga and Cordelia seemed to be helping each other get the dust out of their leather and faux fur jackets. Gourry was fishing himself out from under two tables, a pillar and a large bookshelf and appeared to be in perfectly fine working order. Angel was busy directing a look of acute terror at a splinter of wood that would serve as quite an excellent stake, which had imbedded itself in the a crumbling drywall only a couple of inches from his head. Giles' glasses were smashed and he shook his head as though the ceiling had collapsed on purpose, despite years of care and affection. Xellos stood in the center of the chaos, looking this way and that in a less-than-skillful attempt to appear concerned and confused.  
Lina erupted from underneath a couple of bookshelves and a lighting fixture. "DID YOU DO THIS?" She glared venom into Xellos' closed eyes.  
"Lina-chan, Lina-chan, what would be the point? I am as befuddled as anyone."  
"He's lying. Let's kill him." Zel brushed off his linen overcape and stared daggers for Xellos.  
"Tut, tut, I never lie."  
Lina looked around the room to gather further reaction from the band of victims to shoddy building and construction.  
"He…er…doesn't, you know." Giles put in quietly.  
Lina growled, but was, for once, speechless.  
"If no one else desires my immediate demise, might I suggest we uncover the source of this unlikely calamity?"  
The troupe agreed this was the most sensible suggestion the mazoku had made since late that afternoon and followed behind him to the exit, stepping over a good deal of debris, what with broken bookcases, pieces of roof, shards of glass, bits of brick, splinters of wood, pillars and pages. The back door exit to the library swung open as they approached. Exchanging looks varying between, "and out steps the ax-murderer" to "how CLICHÉ!" to "it is a dark and stormy night" to "door? Where are we going? Are we going outside?", the Slayers of varying origins and meanings did something very brave and equally stupid. They actually went outside.  
The grounds were deserted. They were encompassed in the silence of an ancient graveyard and all ears strained and rewarded only with a desolate howl of an omnipresent wind. They could hear no animals, no voices, no rushing of cars or honking of horns. The sky was rapidly transforming from an early morning azure into navy night and it swept them up inside itself. Willow's stomach clenched.  
"This is it, isn't it?" she whispered softly.  
Gentle laughter murmured in her ear, and then filled the sky, trembling them to the earth, turning their insides to ice and making Cordelia ill to her stomach.  
"Children." It wasn't a question, or even a statement. It just was. A woman's voice, soft, demure, without emotion and edged with such cold strength it burned into their minds, like a brand.  
Lina jerked her head around to look at Zel. The ground had begun to shake, the tremble of an approaching stampede. She saw them then. Legions of creatures, humans and mazoku poured from every angle like frigid water. Pummeling towards them, faster and faster, brandishing anything they could carry and use as a weapon. Gargoyle-like demons flying towards them carrying spears, women with newborn babies brandishing butcher knives, children with rocks and guns, old men with pistols and canes, people who appeared to carry nothing at all but looked on with all the satisfaction of having an army of a thousand of the strongest men behind them.  
Lina saw Buffy fall to her knees. She shook Buffy, who looked on, listlessly.  
"These aren't vampires. They're children! They're mothers! I can't…"  
"That or death! I choose life." Lina looked grimly forward and was unshaken by a badly aimed bullet than missed her head by less than a foot. She stepped forward, begging herself for forgiveness. "DRAGON SLAVE!!!"  
A furious beam of light emitted from her open hands, erupting through the mindless army, destroying every being in its path.  
Lina panted heavily as Buffy and her gang, confidence renewed, congratulated Lina on not embellishing her abilities with magic in the least.  
The dust began to clear. Several people spared by the blast still ambled undauntedly forward, but the trail of bodies and bloodied appendages littered the soccer field. The Slayers stood, words caught in their throats, at the hideousness of the destruction.  
Lina choked. "I...I've never killed an innocent…I…there was that time, but I thought I'd never be the same and…L-sama, help me, I…" she bit her lip so hard to stop the tears from forming she coughed on the hollow, pitiless taste of her own blood.  
Buffy's eyes widened in fear but Willow looked down at Lina. "You had to do it, or we'd be dead right now." Willow reminded, but the tone of her voice made it clear that her attempts to relieve Lina of the blame and disgrace of murdering innocents for the sake of personal survival made her sick. Lina understood.  
A little boy, who seemed to be armed with nothing more than rocks staggered up to them, wobbling under what looked to be a broken leg, and hurled the sharp pebbles at them with all the strength left in his body. When he had exhausted his supply, he charged at them with a small knife he had concealed under his baseball jacket.  
He plunged the knife at Zel, drawing nothing more than sparks. He tried again, yielding the same result as the team looked on in horror, unable to decide what to do. The boy kept at it, determined to damage Zel's solid frame. His eyes looked empty.  
The sky filled itself once again with the woman's voice, her gentle broken humming of a half-remembered tune. The small child seemed to identify the rest of them for the first time, turning towards Cordelia with his blade, like a zombie. Angel was too quick, hurling the kid to the side, onto the ground. Amelia screamed softly, unable to express herself in words. The little boy sat up, his eyes opened wide and he climbed to his feet to carry out his mission. The bone poking out of his flesh was visible to them now, but they boy appeared unaware, edging swiftly towards them for a second attack.  
"What are we going to do?" Willow asked, voice trembling.  
"We can't kill him!" Gourry looked around, his eyes filled with terror.  
"We can't stand here!" Buffy yelled, fists clenched, knuckles as white as her face.  
Zel stepped forward, dark wings sensing the malice in the air with an anguished regret stirring inside of him. "MONO BOLT!!!"  
The small boy flew several feet in the air and landed with his limbs and neck contorted in disgusting ways, reminding Lina strongly of a child's marionette. Buffy stepped forward to see what she could do, but even Gourry could tell by the vile sound his body made upon contact with the turf that nothing could be none.  
No one could say anything for a moment and no one could even understand how to modify their opinions of Zelgadis in their minds. One fact was glaringly evident, however - what choice had they been given?  
"Buffy's eyes were brimming with mournful tears. "His dad probably gave him that jacket, you know. At little league."  
Before someone could shriek at her properly to shut up, the omnipotent voice spoke once more.  
"Did that bother you?" The soft voice purred over the battlefield.  
In response, there was a hysterical and chaotic outbreak of panic among the Slayers and a general consensus was reached that this was scary shit and they really, really didn't want to do it anymore.  
Xellos, unnaturally becoming the voice of reason, stepped forward sullenly. "Will you not show yourself, Iruka Shinkai?"  
Deep Sea Dolphin's gentle laughter hardened somewhat. "I don't, usually. Few have earned the right to lay their eyes upon me. But in the good name of sportsmanship, I will reveal by physical essence, so that I may not be conceived, as you all lie perishing, as the faceless Dark Lord!"  
The piece of sky to the left of the Slayers began spinning madly, like a cyclone beginning to form. Eyes appeared first, infinitely blue eyes with a coldness and odium to them that rivaled anything they could imagine. Gradually, a body began to form from the clouds and dust and ice. Exceptionally tall and slender, and her skin pale as thin ice, she was unadorned, save for some well placed frost-blue coral. Magnificently long and wavy, wet blue hair rippled poetically in the breeze, and Deep Sea Dolphin seemed to levitate in the air on her toes, akin to the posture of a beautiful ballerina.  
At their awestruck expressions, Deep Sea Dolphin chuckled softly behind a long, delicate hand. "I know!"  
She seemed to rearrange herself in the sky, and looked to be sitting primly on some invisible chair of sorts. There was a bemused look to her, and then a soft smile spread slowly across her perfect mouth.  
"Why are the sexy ones always uber-bitches?" Xander whispered to Willow.  
"I ask that we begin this game properly. There is really something of a procedure to the matters at hand, if you please." She smiled gently.  
Buffy's eyes flashed a stony grey and she fell to her side, crumbled in apparent agony.  
"Buffy!" Angel yelled, and ran towards her, fear etched deeply in his soul.  
Buffy pulled herself from the fetal position in time to plunge a stake hard and deep into his chest. A look of the purest pain and anguish flooded Angel's face and then he disintegrated.  
The Slayers looked on in horror, gauging Buffy's reaction of her blunder against the grief they felt for Angel. When they saw Buffy's eyes clearly, it became obvious it was more than a mistake. They were empty and pitiful, like the little boy's, and Giles, Willow, Xander and Cordelia cried out loudly at her. Unmoved by their cries and pleas, Buffy looked to Cordelia, and began to charge at her with the bloody wooden stake. In a state of devastation, Cordelia turned around only in time to meet Buffy's soulless eyes, as the stake was plunged deeply into her chest. Cordelia crumpled violently to the ground, as though the life was immediately quashed from her dying body. Buffy turned, violence scored deeply into her face at her victory, pulled the stake ruthlessly from the chasm of Cordelia's body and turned to Willow.  
Willow appeared to stop time with a ghastly choking motion as the brilliant color fell from her eyes and Buffy was flung back ruthlessly. Willow turned her serene gaze to Xander and she licked her lips with relish, throwing her head back in the air.  
"Deliver us, deliver us, deliver us the power, the pain, the reality, deliver us the understanding, the strength, our ideals, Deliver US!" Willow spoke swiftly and softly.  
Xander began to twitch and seizure madly, uncontrollably, frighteningly. He fell to the ground, nerves convulsing, utterly lifeless.  
Buffy had found her way to her feet and was charging towards Willow, stake aimed high, as fast as she could run. Willow turned in time to catch Buffy, and raising her lethal weapon, but Giles caught Willow first. Time ceased as he drove a dagger through Willow's stomach, and she gasped hard and fell to her knees, fighting for life that Deep Sea Dolphin seemed to be tugging on from every cell.  
Buffy stumbled at her great speed, tripping over Willow and spearing herself on her own stake. Buffy gagged, coughing blood onto the wet, green grass. Al at once the life was snatched from both bodies and they rolled onto their sides, soaked in lifelessness.  
Giles choked loudly, crisply and he felt his nerves collapse in his skin and everything went numb except his head, which pounded as thick blood pulsed painfully through it. Zelgadis looked at Giles and his stomach reeled to realize Giles had not been possessed.  
"I…I thought…I thought if I could save one…only if I could save just one…I would…I…Buffy, she's…." Giles shook his head and tears rolled uninhibited down his cheeks; it seemed they would never stop.  
"Hmmm…that went much quicker than I would have thought, what do you think?" Deep Sea Dolphin looked down on them drawlingly. "Of course, if you had been real friends, you might have done something. I had sincerely hoped you might have expressed grief of some sort. I like it when humans do that." She inclined her head slowly to the sky, as though soaking in the heat and radiance of some invisible sun.  
The Slayers quailed in her malice. Her pale eyes revealed nothing of the loathing and cruelty she possessed, which extended beyond the human imagination.  
Xellos shuffled the whimpering Giles back behind the safety of the school doors, eyes fixedly on Deep Sea Dolphin. She beamed back.  
"I learned a long time ago that all is fair in war. Apparently Xellas was good enough to teach you that much, Xellos-kun?" Her soft chuckle erupted into wild, penetrating laughter burning into their souls in its insanity. "I also learned that death is pointless if not made a sport of entertainment." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "You help her too much, Xellos-kun. When you die tonight I want you to think of your precious Mistress and the fate she shall soon meet at your failure."  
The world around Lina dissolved disgustingly into greys and blues and bruise purples. Naga stood before Lina, alone in this torn world, her blue eyes soft as they caught the redhead's and held them. It was as though Lina could see Naga's conscience drain from her body like a layer of film that blanketed her skin, Naga shed humanity and her eyes bloomed a dull grey, like the boy's. Empty. A thin, lifeless smile passed across her lips and she pulled her sword from its sheath and pointed it to Lina's tiny chest.  
"Naga." Lina whispered and she hoped against reason that she would be slain quickly and wouldn't have to open her eyes and bear reality. Not this reality - this was not the real world, the one that she had shared with Naga when she had been younger.  
"Lina." Naga's voice was silky and delicate, gentle against the subtle blade she still held to Lina. "We will all die, Lina. Unless you ask Xellos to stop protecting you. Embrace Deep Sea Dolphin. Be her arms and legs, be her weapons. You owe Xellas nothing."  
This one truth pulled a taught string in Lina's chest. She did owe Xellas nothing. Why should she save Xellas when she was really just as bad as Deep Sea Dolphin? Maybe worse, Lina wasn't sure she knew the legends well enough to recount now, but they were both insane and manipulating and deserving of each other. At least if she gave herself to Deep Sea Dolphin, she could be with her friends.  
Xellos materialized lazily behind Lina, and Naga withdrew her eyes quickly from Lina, slashing her blade away and plunging it deep into Xellos. His image quivered but neither weakened nor became distorted and changed.  
"Lina," He spoke, his voice deathly serious, "She is not Naga and she will kill you if you don't kill her."  
"What the hell do you think you are talking about?! I'm not going to kill her! I can't! I won't!"  
"You have to and you will!" Xellos yelled against the rising white noise around them. "You said it yourself back there! Better to kill than to die!"  
"That's not true!" Lina screamed so loudly Naga's cold eyes turned to hers and Xellos' eyes opened just a fragment. "If it's my pain or theirs, my death or theirs I choose my own." Her voice was breaking with exhaustion, with helplessness.  
"Noble." Xellos said quietly. "But stupid nonetheless. They will die no matter what. They are already dead now."  
"She's not. She's not dead."  
"She died when Deep Sea Dolphin took her body. But Iruka didn't take her soul."  
Lina shook her head. Naga wasn't trying to hurt her. She wasn't Naga, but she wasn't harming her. "Why didn't you stop it?! She said you're protecting me. Why not them!?"  
"I can't. Pointless as well as tiring and in the end you will be stronger."  
Blood rushed like thunder to Lina's face and her heart skipped under a gale of cold fury. "You'll burn in hell."  
Xellos almost smiled. "Certainly. It is a most obvious destiny."  
Naga's empty pupils focused suddenly, her eyes fixing slowly on Lina with renewed purpose. She took her sword in both hands and brought it down swiftly across Lina's chest. Lina jumped back from the blade's edge but not in time as she noticed a large, ruby stain bloom plentifully from her clean white blouse. Naga's eyes gleamed and she brought her sword back to plunge it deeply into Lina's frame but her eyes sprang wide open and her jaw dropped, her limp body falling to the intangible astral floor with an alarming thud.  
Lina's sword lay imbedded in Naga's swelled breast and Naga's dark blood painted her voluptuous body gruesomely.  
Lina's teary eyes froze open and her head snapped up to the unseen sky and an electricity ran through her like a steady stream, covering her inside and out, knowing her. Through her throat, around her quickly beating heart, through her arms down to her fingertips and back down again along her stomach, her back and down each leg, and then it ran back up until it stopped, resting powerfully in her mind.  
"Naga." Lina whispered.  
"I tried to tell you." Xellos insisted, his voice unraised and yet somehow audible against the rising din. "They want to be with you. They refuse to hurt you. When you destroy their bodies, their souls are free to be with you. To become part of yours."  
Lina's breath caught in her throat and her heart paused. Naga was a part of her? Was it better to kill then? No, Lina resigned, she hated herself so much she couldn't think properly.  
The greyish world around her melted into a beige one, smeared with rank plum. A girl stood before her once more, donning a lavender sundress, her deep wine colored hair standing out against it. Her eyes stood out a bleached granite color against her tanned skin and wide eyes. They had seen hope once. They had seen truth once.  
"Lina-chan." Amelia's soulless eyes flickered into the sorceress's own.  
"No." Lina muttered, pushing herself against the farthest boundary of her dimensional cage. "Not Amelia. Will I have to kill them all? No. No. No. No."  
"Hai, Lina-chan. If you want to fight us, you will have to kill us all. But you can be with us if you want. Will you kill a little princess for Beastmaster? Does she matter that much to you?"  
Lina's mind reeled. Beastmaster meant nothing to her. Why was she doing this? To survive wasn't enough anymore. Life without Naga and Gourry and Amelia wasn't good enough. Without Zel, there was no point.  
"FIREBALL!" Amelia called, her palm opening to Lina's chest. Lina was pinned against the dimensional wall she already backed against, captured by the heat, the pain searing against the wound to her chest and the deeper wound inside her.  
"Why do you torture yourself?" Xellos' disembodied voice questioned her from all around her.  
"Why do you torture me?" Lina screamed, burnt and broken and alone with Iruka's slave.  
"I don't. I don't try." He corrected quietly. "You torture her, you know?"  
"Deep Sea Dolphin?"  
"Amelia. She can see you. She can hear you. She can feel her arms moving to kill you. She can feel herself hating you. She can hear herself praying to the Lord of Nightmares that you will kill her so she doesn't live her life as Iruka's mindless puppet. Her tool, where she is used to kill and maim and hurt and is trapped inside herself. She can hear herself wondering why you won't kill her."  
Lina felt her knees give out in spite of her desperation to live. Her heart rose to her throat and her stomach sank below the ground. How could she put anyone through that pain? Was Xellos trying to convince her she was a horrible person?  
"There is a word." Xellos whispered lightly as Amelia's pointed forefinger came to rest of Lina's forehead. "Mercy."  
A primal part of Lina understood the word before Xellos had said it. She raised her head, eyes wide, tears magnifying her distorted world. "LAGUNA. BLADE."  
For an instant she felt arms from behind her gather her energy in their palms and tailor it into the subtle blade. She saw the power thrust itself deep inside the princess, destroying her body, shattering the girl's very bones.  
She felt the same lightening enter her body rigidly. It explored her with both pain and passion, with wisdom and curiosity and came to rest peacefully in part of her mind.  
Amelia.  
"Two down, Lina. But neither of us is giving it our one hundred percent, are we? No, I didn't think so. Does it get harder Lina? Would they have struck you down in cold blood? Would you forgive them? But then, it's different with you. You at least are doing it for a noble cause. Xellas will be so grateful."  
Lina stared up at the quickly dissolving realm around her, one that stank of blood and bone and even death. "I don't fight for Beastmaster! I fight for them!" She screamed into the hurricane winds that smothered both her breath and voice.  
The same choked colors and abused yellows and purples painted a small sphere of existence around her. As though he had always been there, a tall, blonde swordsman seemed to form out of the mist that hung grudgingly in the air around both him and Lina. She knew he would be there, knew what she was expected to do and still her blood ached as it pulsed through her. She watched with growing terror as his eyes shadowed over, becoming empty of the kindness she had known of Gourry and saw it replaced with cold, hateful fury.  
Gourry reached smoothly, wordlessly for the Hikari No Ken, not needing to call forth the light from it as the blade shone through the gloom with startling brilliance. He stood, sword poised to strike, motionless as though he were daring her to attack.  
Lina spoke softly, knowing Gourry couldn't hear her; here, she spoke only to Deep Sea Dolphin. "I don't care anymore. You know I can strike him down easily with magic. I just don't care."  
"Were it that simple, Lina." Gourry's deep voice resonated a sinister mind that Gourry could never have possessed. "Will you strike him down with magic? Will you kill him at twenty paces? Was there ever a time you knew Gourry that he wasn't precious to you? Do what you will, cowardly sorceress."  
Xellos' voice was distant but distinct against the fury of Deep Sea Dolphin's crazed imagination. "Lina-chan, if you fall for her mind tricks, perhaps you are cowardly. She will destroy you if you do not destroy her first."  
"Shut up!" Lina shouted at the disembodied Xellos. "I know the rules! Stupid mazoku! I'll kill her on my own terms."  
Her eyes shifted from the bubble-shaped sky above her to Gourry. Not Gourry, Lina told herself. Gourry will be with me when I get rid of her. She shut her eyes for a moment, savoring her breath as it filled her lungs painfully. This isn't the end, Gourry, she promised him silently.  
In a flash of adrenaline and desperation, Lina dove forward with dangerous and unexpected speed. She shoved her elbow hard against Gourry's stomach, catching him by surprise. Gourry doubled over, evil eyes wide and Lina took advantage, raising her foot abruptly to kick the Hikari No Ken from the swordsman's hands. The sword clattered to the ground, blade shimmering before winking out completely. Lina dove for the hilt, sliding onto the ground as she clasped it tightly in her hand. Gourry was quick, diving and landing on her, crushing her breath from her body and cracking several of her ribs. Lina winced in pain and Gourry reached for the hilt of his blade but Lina balled her legs up tightly beneath his chest and gathering every once of strength, kicked out her legs, propelling Gourry through the air and onto his back. Lina rose quickly to stand before him.  
"Light, Come Forth!" She cried and the blade materialized once more. Lina hesitated only a moment before tightening her grip and plunging it into her friend's exposed chest. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly.  
Suddenly, she flung her head back in shock as a mind-numbing awareness passed through her like a lightening bolt. It wracked her body, joining the others in the recesses of Lina's mind. "Gourry."  
A man in black leather pants and a jacket stood before her in a state of grim nothingness, his satiny black wings unfolded to catch the wind.  
"Zelgadis!" Lina cried.  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter 12  
  
Lina knew that she would have to fight Zelgadis. As she had told Xellos, she knew the rules. She also knew Deep Sea Dolphin had been saving him up, her ace in the hole. Deep Sea Dolphin preyed on Lina's weaknesses and Zelgadis was Lina's biggest weakness of all.  
Her lover turned to her, face stoic, empty. "Lina." He murmured softly.  
Tears welled in Lina's eyes. How could she kill Zelgadis?  
"Lina, please don't cry." Zel pleaded quietly in the wind that surrounded them.  
Lina felt her heart stop beating for a moment, replaced by an intense pain and an aching doubt. Could Deep Sea Dolphin fake the quality of concern and caring in his voice? Could she impersonate Zelgadis' hidden tenderness? Lina decided to try and find out.  
"Zel?" She spoke barely above a whisper, her voice shaking as her eyes studied the ground fearfully. "Zel, is that you?"  
"Yes. It's me, Lina." Zel's voice was warm but devoid of any other emotion.  
"No." Xellos's faint image appeared behind Lina. "Don't listen to him, Lina. He's no different than the others."  
"I'm stronger than them, mazoku." Zel scorned. "It has been hard, but I have been able to fight the insanity." His eyes turned on Lina. "I feel I am about to lose my mind, Lina. Before I die, I want to fight her together with you."  
"Zel!" Lina's eyes lit up with her first ray of hope.  
"Lina." Xellos' voice, unusually stern, broke through her daze. "He's not strong enough to resist her. It's Iruka playing with your mind. Don't let her wear you down."  
In spite of her need to believe that Zelgadis was alive, Lina couldn't let herself believe it so willingly. After all, were it not for Xellos, she wouldn't be alive herself.  
"Zelgadis," She paused a moment, trying to be strong. "If you are Zelgadis, you can give me proof."  
"Lina, we don't have time for ridiculous games." Zel's voice was firm, harsh.  
"See?" Xellos chided.  
"You want to live? I want proof." She insisted.  
Zelgadis sighed thoughtfully, as though he were recalling something that happened long, long ago. "Do you remember that night before we fought Shabranigdo? Do you remember that you were afraid to die? I told you that I wouldn't leave. I never have, Lina. Even now, I will not leave you."  
Lina's eyes were wet and becoming more tear-stained with every second. It was her Zelgadis. Deep Sea Dolphin couldn't remember that. She couldn't be loving the way he was.  
"It's a trick! She's tapping his memory!" Xellos called out to her.  
"Zelgadis!" She cried as she ran into his arms.  
As Lina reached Zelgadis' outstretched arms, she saw a flash of shining steel and felt a sharp throbbing against her right cheek. She pulled back to discover Zelgadis was holding a small, crooked dagger. She reached up to touch her face and felt a blooming warm wetness on her skin, accompanied by an acute stinging sensation as her dirty hand brushed her open wound.  
"Bitch." Zel muttered coldly. "You dodged. It was supposed to blind you."  
Lina's nearly wretched, a cold and inconsolable grief welling up in her stomach and throat. She wiped the blood from her cheek, smearing it on her skirt as her eyes locked on Zelgadis.  
Before she knew what happened, he dove at her, throwing all his weight atop her, pinning her against the ground. His wings spread wide, until all she could see was Zelgadis surrounded by an angelic blackness. His deadly eyes flashed with hunger, making Lina recoil beneath him.  
"Guess what, little Lina?" His voice was so soft, so sickeningly unlike him. It was full of fake warmth, high and dangerous. "Do you know what I could do to you? I could take you now, have you in every way. You know the best part? You love me. I can take it all from you, every piece of your soul. I don't have to control you. All I have to do is…" Zel's hand snaked down to Lina's waist and tried to push lower. Lina cried out, terror flooding her eyes.  
"Zel! Zel! I pretended not to remember. I thought it would be easier. It wasn't. I love you!"  
Zelgadis' touch ceased its downward decline and his gaze held hers. She saw is eyes whirl and clear for an instant that seemed to last a silent eternity. A tiny, delicate tear slid from his deep grey-blue eyes and slid over his granite skin.  
"I love you too." He whispered hoarsely. His single tear slid from is cheek, falling against Lina's skin, shrouding her in warmth. His eyes flashed once more. "End it." He pleaded, his voice quiet, buried beneath immeasurable loss.  
Lina nodded slowly, almost emotionlessly. She had to protect Zelgadis now. It wasn't about how much she needed him. To let him continue to be controlled this way because she was too cowardly to end it for him would break him more than Deep Sea Dolphin could ever dream of breaking her. Zelgadis needed her. And she loved him enough that she had no other choice.  
Lina held his eyes as he struggled to keep Deep Sea Dolphin at bay within him. Lina raised her hand slowly as Zelgadis released her from beneath him. "Darkness beyond twighlight, crimson beyond blood that flows, buried in the flow of time. In they Great Name, I pledge myself to darkness."  
Lina pulled her fingers back, kissing them softly and then continued. "All the fools that stand in my way shall be destroyed." Lina sobbed now as she spoke, watching Zel's eyes, begging her, pleading her to have the strength she needed to finish it. I promise you, Zel, Lina told herself. I promise I will save you from this. "By the power that you an I possess…" Lina pressed her fingers gently to Zel's lips one last time. "Dragon Slave." She whispered softly.  
The small dimensional plane disappeared once and for all, leaving Lina crumpled in a heap on the dewy green grass, bleeding and sobbing. "Forgive me, Zel. Oh god, I love you." She throat, raw with overuse and grief let barely a whisper escape from her lips. Light peeled down from the demonic sky above the city, hurtling down to Lina, pushing inside her chest. The electricity she felt then was nothing like anything she had experienced before. It pulsed through every inch of her, inside and out, almost wrapping her in its essence before retreating into her mind. She heard an echo of what could be a voice, so faint and yet wonderfully familiar. "Thank you, my love. Aishiteru. Itsu mo."  
Zelgadis.  
Xellos moved to stand over Lina, looking down at her with his usual smile.  
"Is it over?" Lina croaked painfully.  
Harsh, cruel laughter rained down from the sky in a vicious onslaught and Lina's mind was crushed under the pressure of Deep Sea Dolphin's madness.  
"I'll take that as a no." Lina grimaced, allowing Xellos to help her to her feet.  
Deep Sea Dolphin appeared once more, as though she were dancing in the sky. "That was delightful. Simply lovely. I must say though, I am a little disappointed. Things did not go precisely as scripted. For example, you don't seem nearly guilty enough. You did just slaughter your dear friends and your lover. Doesn't that make you sad?"  
"Bitch!" Lina screamed into the sky.  
"My, my, how you hurt my feelings with your cruel words. The nice thing is though, I never meant for them to kill you. They weren't strong enough. I knew that. Their purpose was to torture you, either physically or mentally. And if you killed them, you would live with it for the remainder of your short little life. Merciful, I must say. After all, I will end that guilt so quickly!" Her voice changed then suddenly, from her sweetly pleasant chattering voice to a maniacal shriek. Her eyes blazed dangerously as she looked down at the child sorceress and the trickster priest.  
Lina automatically back into Xellos, who stepped forward almost protectively. "Iruka!" He called up at the Dark Lord. "You will not win this battle. The power of the Lord of Nightmares is on our side!"  
Lina raised her eyebrows Xelloswards. Would Deep Sea Dolphin call his bluff?  
The Dark Lord howled with curdling laughter. "L-sama? Why in the name of heaven and hell would she help you? You are nothing to her and neither is your pathetic mistress."  
Xellos inclined his head skyward, clutching his staff tightly. "Lina. It is up to you now. You have everything you need. Now you must focus it."  
"What do you mean?" Lina asked, confused. "How am I supposed to defeat a dark lord?"  
Xellos smiled. "You defeated Shabranigdo."  
"A tiny piece of Shabranigdo!" Lina scoffed loudly. "You know better than that."  
Xellos shrugged, grinning. "Just trying to inspire a little confidence."  
Deep Sea Dolphin seemed to be growing impatient, and a black bolt of lightening hurled at Lina and Xellos. It stopped long before it reached them, blocked by a dome-shaped force field the Xellos had silently erected around them both.  
Lina's voice rose high in a panic. "Tell me! Nothing about secrets! If you don't tell me now, we're both going to die, and so will Beastmaster."  
A soft, unusually genuine smile fell over Xellos' face. "Now you are starting to ask the right questions the right way. You are learning, Lina-chan."  
Another bolt of lightening hurled, more powerful than the first.  
"You have a great deal of power on your side. You are now more powerful than any Dark Lord."  
"How?" Lina asked skeptically.  
"You have your own magic. You have the magic of your friends inside you. You have mine."  
A shower of powerful offense rained down upon the ever-thinning barrier.  
"That's not enough!" Lina exclaimed.  
"You have my mistress, Xellas' power on your side."  
"Deep Sea Dolphin has armies, legions of zombies at her command, many of them more powerful than I am!" Lina cried against the din of explosions all around them.  
"And," Xellos smiled, "If you can focus, you can channel L-sama's energy."  
Lina gasped, her eyes wide. "Again? Deep Sea Dolphin is right; She has no reason to help me this time. There's no reason for Her to save Beastmaster."  
"Either channel Her power or don't." Xellos shrugged again. "But it will mean the difference between life and death."  
A hole began to form visibly in Xellos' shield. He looked to Lina. "I will try to maintain this barrier and help you focus Xellas' power. That is all I can. First, focus your own and that of your friends. Hurry. If she breaks through this, all of L-sama's power will not save us."  
Lina nodded. She positioned herself in the center of the barrier, gathering her strength. She felt herself beginning to focus, to concentrate on the magic within her that she once knew so well. Over the years, that had been stifled. She was surprised she was able to call forth the Dragon Slave.  
Thinking about it brought her back to Zel. Why hadn't she told him she loved him when she had the chance? Why had she lied and said she didn't remember it? Lina had thought that until it was all resolved, the whole battle with Deep Sea Dolphin, being in love, acting in love with Zelgadis would only distract her. God knows, when she first began to love those thousands of years ago, it had distracted her then. In the battle against Hellmaster, it had almost cost her everything. Now the idea of Zel being gone, no matter how much he felt his soul with her, threatened to destroy her. Why hadn't she told him when she could?  
"Lina!" Xellos cried out her name, jolting her from her anguish. "Focus! The shield's falling!"  
Yes, Lina told herself. Yes, I have time later for remorse. Time to hurt. But now I have to fight. She felt it all well up inside her, in her mind. I am going to win this battle if you all help me, Lina promised.  
  
Lina was standing by a lake, cool and still. The water was the bluest she'd seen in many thousands of years, and the trees were the brightest green, coveting the lake in the beauty of the cloudless blue sky. Lina stared out over the beauty of it, spellbound as her eyes drank in the aesthetic majesty she so dearly missed.  
A soul-wracking laugh boomed out behind her, startling her as well as any surrounding wildlife. "Lina, you never change. Always so serious when it comes to battles. Lighten up. You will win. Because you'll have my help!"  
Lina spun around at the wonderfully familiar voice. 'Naga!" She cried out. "Naga, you're alive!"  
Naga smiled almost sweetly. Almost. "I am within you. Let's beat this thing!"  
Naga's image began to disperse, becoming part of the lake and the trees around Lina. The redhead stood in silent dismay as Naga's image was replaced by Amelia's.  
"Ne, Lina-san. Thank you very much!" Amelia beamed at her. "You did was right, even though it was hard. In the name of justice and order, we can destroy Deep Sea Dolphin and end her evil ways!"  
"Hey, Lina."  
Upon hearing her voice, Lina whirled from Amelia to see Gourry standing to her left, a smile on his face. He stretched hugely, and then grinned at his friend.  
"I know what happened. You had to help us and now you have to save the world again. Didn't we already do that?" He paused thoughtfully. "Ah well, it should be easier then cause we've practiced. Be strong, Lina." He smiled once more before he and Amelia faded into the summery air that surrounded the sorceress.  
A glimmer of blue caught Lina's eye and she turned once more, slowly, as though she feared too swift a movement would end the vision before a chance to see the person she had been waiting for.  
Zelgadis stood, garbed the way she remember him so long ago, cloaked in concealing beige. He took in the vision of water and forest, watching slowly, peacefully.  
"I'm sorry, Zel. God, you'll never know how sorry I am." Lina's voice, barely audible, seemed amplified by the strange peaceful silence that surrounded them both.  
Zel shook his head, focusing his eyes one Lina. "No, Lina. I do know. I am with you."  
Lina eyes glued themselves to the grass and soil, afraid beyond words to see something in Zelgadis' eyes, something that would destroy her. He felt his light footsteps as he approached her, felt his hand reach gently down to raise her chin as he held her gaze.  
"I love you, Lina. I spent much of life in your company not knowing that and much of the remaining time denying it." He smiled softly. "After all, how could an angel love a demon?"  
Lina shook her head. "Zel, no-."  
The chimera touched his fingers softly to her lips. "Shhh. In a moment you must be stronger than you could have ever imagined. I want you to know that I am with you. Now and for the rest of your life. I am so in love with you, Lina." He wrapped his arms tightly around her as she buried her face against his shoulder.  
"I love you too." She whispered.  
Zelgadis drew back slowly, a sweet, genuine smile tracing his lips. "I know. Till I see you again, koibito-chan. Never forget, I am with you."  
Lina nodded bravely against her tears as Zel unfolded his great wings, filling them with air, letting them beat slowly in the soft breeze and catching a wind as he took off, flying high above her as the beautiful lake and forest faded around her.  
Now she stood in the early hours of Earth's most chaotic morning, dark clouds smothering down over Xellos' failing shield.  
Lina's emotions seemed to pour from her body, emptying into the soil and the air around her. She held her head high, almost hearing the insane shrieking and the blasts of boiling ocean the Dark Lord flung upon the barrier relentlessly.  
"Xellos." She said softly, her voice deep with a chilling serenity.  
Xellos' eyes did not strain from the barrier but she felt a power far greater than her own meld with her, encircle her in it. Xellas, she knew. Xellos was channeling his mistress's power to her. She tried to embrace it the way she had down with the power of the souls inside her but it felt as though she were trying to carry water in her open palms.  
The barrier split, a siren's song shattering Xellos' magic like some glass globe, and Deep Sea Dolphin threw her head back, raising her arm from behind her to aim a bolt of black lightening at the redhead sorceress.  
Xellos turned on his heel, calling out Lina's name in pointless warning.  
Lina's head rolled back abruptly, as though to stare once more at the sky. Xellos' eyes followed her gaze and to his shock, a golden light brighter than he had ever seen descended from the blanket of bruise-colored clouds that patchworked the sky. The light descended towards Lina, wrapping around her like a silken ribbon and Lina's gaze fell once more on Deep Sea Dolphin, who was so stunned, she had not taken aim to destroy her enemy.  
Lina's skin, paler than it's normal tone radiated the golden light and her eyes echoed the same metallic hue. When Lina opened her mouth, an unheard of blend of deep and childish voices issued forth, slow and steady, lingering in a music of life and death.  
"Mother of Chaos, of eternal darkness at the beginning of all creation, Spirit of blood and war, birth of infants and renewal of tired dreams, I look upon you now. Take my body, mind and soul, guide me and grant me the power I need. As you created the earth, moon and sun, I, the daughter and knight of the Universe, worship the powers of Darkness and Light. By the power that you and I possess…NIGHTMARE SLAVE!"  
A phenomenally eternal golden power mixed with unfathomable darkness mingled and mated, folded in on itself and hurled forth from Lina's tiny body, plunging into Deep Sea Dolphin as it sang out with voices strained through light-years, as though the cosmos sang down on the battle.  
The golden light expanded, seemingly engulfing the entire planet in blinding light and absolute silence. From somewhere in the void of an exploding star, Xellos rose casually to his feet, extending his hand to Lina. She blinked away the remnants of something she could not hope to understand on her own and reached forward to take it. He spun around, her hand clutched tightly in his and leapt forward through something Lina could neither see nor feel.  
  
Her feet hit ground, and it was not wet and emerald but a burnt and sickly brown. The sky above her was orange but seemed to be straining to paint itself a health blue. The few trees surrounding the area were bare and stunted and strange birds with calls she had never heard before filled the sky with their alien noise.  
Lina clutched her head, tender and pulsing with pain from the battle. "Is it over?"  
Xellos smiled widely at her. "You defeated her, yes."  
Lina wanted to smile with relief but something turned sour as the corners of her mouth curled slowly upwards. "So, where are we?" She asked, disgust edged in her voice.  
Xellos looked grimly out over the hills and valleys surrounding them. "Home." He replied.  
  
  



End file.
